DataContract Name Attribute not Working with Json Serializer - asp.net

Question

I'm building a JSON only WepApi and I have a controller which returns a list.
I have decorated the list with Datacontract/Datamember attributes like this:
[DataContract(Name = "Files", Namespace = "http://schemas.example.com")]
public class FileDesc
{
[DataMember(Name = "MyFileName")]
public string Name { get; set; }
[DataMember(Name = "MyFilePath")]
public string Path { get; set; }
[DataMember(Name = "MyFileSize")]
public long? Size { get; set; }
public FileDesc(string n, string p, long? s)
{
Name = n;
Path = p;
Size = s;
}
}
In my controller I return the list like this:
// Response
List<FileDesc> FileList = new List<FileDesc>();
foreach (MultipartFileData file in provider.FileData)
{
FileList.Add(new FileDesc(file.Headers.ContentDisposition.FileName, file.LocalFileName , file.Headers.ContentDisposition.Size ));
}
return FileList;
But in the JSON output the Name attribute for the list is missing:
[
{
"myFileName": "\"ArduinoUNO.png\"",
"myFilePath": "c:\\images\\ArduinoUNO.png",
"myFileSize": null
}
]
To force JSON-only output i have removed the xml formatter on Global.asax:
//Only JSON
var formatters = GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters;
formatters.Remove(formatters.XmlFormatter);
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Arrays don't have names by themselves in JSON. If you want a name on the list, you need an outer object that has a named property to hold the list.
Something like this:
public class Response
{
[DataMember(Name = "Files")]
List<FileDesc> FileList { get; set; }
}
The JSON would then look like this:
{
"Files":
[
{
"myFileName": "\"ArduinoUNO.png\"",
"myFilePath": "c:\\images\\ArduinoUNO.png",
"myFileSize": null
}
]
}