C# CONCEPTS
Learn how to ignore properties based on numerous measures with System.Text.Json.
Learning Objectives
When serializing C# objects to JSON using “System.Text.Json,” all public properties by default serialized. If you don’t want a few of them to appear in the result, there are several options.
The article demonstrates how to ignore
- Individual properties
- A null-value properties
- All read-only properties
- All null-value properties
- All default-value properties
Prerequisites
- Install latest visual studio community edition.
- Knowledge of properties in C# language.
Getting Started
The System.Text.Json namespace renders functionality for serializing to and deserializing from JSON.
Ignore Individual Properties
Use the [JsonIgnore] attribute to ignore particular property. Here’s an example class to serialize and JSON output:
public class Example
{
public string Property1 { get; set; }
[JsonIgnore]
public string Property2 { get; set; }
}
JSON Output
{
"Property1":"Value1"
}
Ignore Null Value Properties
Option to specify condition with [JsonIgnore] attribute’s property. The JsonIgnoreCondition enum provides the following options:
- Always — The property is always ignored. If no Condition is specified, this option is assumed.
- Never — The property is always serialized and deserialized, regardless of the DefaultIgnoreCondition, IgnoreReadOnlyProperties, and IgnoreReadOnlyFields global settings.
- WhenWritingDefault — The property is ignored on serialization if it’s a reference type null, a nullable value type null, or a value type default.
- WhenWritingNull — The property is ignored on serialization if it’s a reference type null or a nullable value type null.
[JsonIgnore(Condition = JsonIgnoreCondition.Always)]
The following example demonstrates the usage of the [JsonIgnore] attribute’s Condition property:
public class Example
{
[JsonIgnore(Condition = JsonIgnoreCondition.WhenWritingDefault)]
public DateTime Date { get; set; }
[JsonIgnore(Condition = JsonIgnoreCondition.Never)]
public int TempC { get; set; }
[JsonIgnore(Condition = JsonIgnoreCondition.WhenWritingNull)]
public string? Summary { get; set; }
};
Ignore read-only properties
A read-only property, i.e., it contains a public getter but not a setter. To ignore all those properties, set the JsonSerializerOptions.IgnoreReadOnlyProperties to true, as shown in the below example.
var options = new JsonSerializerOptions {
IgnoreReadOnlyProperties = true,
WriteIndented = true
};
Serialization Use
jsonString = JsonSerializer.Serialize(classObject, options);
This option affects only serialization. While deserialization, read-only properties are neglected by default.
Ignore all null-value Properties
To neglect each null-value property, set the DefaultIgnoreCondition property to WhenWritingNull, as explained in the following example:
JsonSerializerOptions options = new(){
DefaultIgnoreCondition = JsonIgnoreCondition.WhenWritingNull };
Serialization Use
jsonString = JsonSerializer.Serialize(classObject, options);
Ignore all default-value Properties
To counter serialization of default values in properties, set the DefaultIgnoreCondition property to WhenWritingDefault, as shown below.
JsonSerializerOptions options = new(){
DefaultIgnoreCondition = JsonIgnoreCondition.WhenWritingDefault };
Serialization Use
jsonString = JsonSerializer.Serialize(classObject, options);
Thank you for reading, and I hope you liked the article.
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