Using ReadAsAsync<T>() to deserialize complex Json object - asp.net-mvc-4

Question

I want to use ReadAsAsync() in my mvc project with .net 4.0. The result comes as null.
If I enter the uri to address bar, the result in chrome as(tag names are changed):
<ns2:MyListResponse xmlns:ns2="blablabla">
<customerSessionId>xxcustomerSessionIdxx</customerSessionId>
<numberOfRecordsRequested>0</numberOfRecordsRequested>
<moreResultsAvailable>false</moreResultsAvailable>
<MyList size="1" activePropertyCount="1">
<MySummary order="0">
<id>1234</id>
<name>...</name>
.
.
</MySummary>
</MyList>
</ns2:MyListResponse>
If I use the statement in code :
using (var client = new HttpClient())
{
var response = client.GetAsync(apiUri).Result;
var message = response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
var result1 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyListResponse>(message);
var result2 = response.Content.ReadAsAsync<MyListResponse>().Result;
}
the message comes in string format as "{\"MyListResponse\":{\"customerSessionId\"...}" which corresponds to a json object as:
{"MyListResponse":
{"customerSessionId":"xxcustomerSessionIdxx",
"numberOfRecordsRequested":0,
"moreResultsAvailable":false,
"MyList":
{"#size":"1",
"#activePropertyCount":"1",
"MySummary":
{"#order":"0",
"id":1234,
"name":"...",
.
.
}
}
}
}
and the properties of result1 and result2 came as null or default values. Class definitions are below. I want to read the content as an object but I couldn't. What do you advice to solve this? What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance.
public class MySummary
{
public int #Order { get; set; }
public string Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
.
.
}
public class MyList
{
public int #Size { get; set; }
public int #ActivePropertyCount { get; set; }
public MySummary MySummary{ get; set; }
}
public class MyListResponse
{
public string CustomerSessionId { get; set; }
public int NumberOfRecordsRequested { get; set; }
public bool MoreResultsAvailable { get; set; }
public MyList MyList { get; set; }
}

Answer 1

I defined a new class as:
public class ResponseWrapper
{
public MyListResponse MyListResponse { get; set; }
}
then I used this wrapper with,
var result1 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<ResponseWrapper>(message);
var result2 = response.Content.ReadAsAsync<ResponseWrapper>().Result;
then it worked. I need only MySummary object but I should write more classes to make it work.

Answer 2

After reading your solution I came up with one that doesn't need an extra class:
private static async Task<U> Execute<U>(HttpClient client, string path)
{
U output = default(U);
HttpResponseMessage response = await client.GetAsync(path);
if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
var jsonAsString = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
output = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<U>(jsonAsString);
}
else
{
throw new ApplicationException(string.Format("Response message is not OK. Issues in action: {0}", path));
}
return output;
}

Answer 3

For the sake of future readers, I think the correct approach is using ReadAsAsync overload that takes IEnumerable<MediaTypeFormatter> and provide a formatter with the same settings used on the server for serialization. That should fix it.

Answer 4

It is possible to use at client ReadAsAsync with MyListResponse directly (in consequence without ResponseWrapper). To do this, you can define "BodyStyle = WebMessageBodyStyle.Bare" in the operation contract of "apiuri" in stead of "BodyStyle = WebMessageBodyStyle.Wrapped" (server side, i.e. service contract).