[c#] How to ignore a property in class if null, using json.net

I am using Json.NET to serialize a class to JSON.

I have the class like this:

class Test1
{
    [JsonProperty("id")]
    public string ID { get; set; }
    [JsonProperty("label")]
    public string Label { get; set; }
    [JsonProperty("url")]
    public string URL { get; set; }
    [JsonProperty("item")]
    public List<Test2> Test2List { get; set; }
}

I want to add a JsonIgnore() attribute to Test2List property only when Test2List is null. If it is not null then I want to include it in my json.

You can write: [JsonProperty("property_name",DefaultValueHandling = DefaultValueHandling.Ignore)]

It also takes care of not serializing properties with default values (not only null). It can be useful for enums for example.

var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings();
settings.ContractResolver = new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver();
settings.NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore;
//you can add multiple settings and then use it
var bodyAsJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(body, Formatting.Indented, settings);

With Json.NET

 public class Movie
 {
            public string Name { get; set; }
            public string Description { get; set; }
            public string Classification { get; set; }
            public string Studio { get; set; }
            public DateTime? ReleaseDate { get; set; }
            public List<string> ReleaseCountries { get; set; }
 }

 Movie movie = new Movie();
 movie.Name = "Bad Boys III";
 movie.Description = "It's no Bad Boys";

 string ignored = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(movie,
            Formatting.Indented,
            new JsonSerializerSettings { NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore });

The result will be:

{
   "Name": "Bad Boys III",
   "Description": "It's no Bad Boys"
 }

To expound slightly on GlennG's very helpful answer (translating the syntax from C# to VB.Net is not always "obvious") you can also decorate individual class properties to manage how null values are handled. If you do this don't use the global JsonSerializerSettings from GlennG's suggestion, otherwise it will override the individual decorations. This comes in handy if you want a null item to appear in the JSON so the consumer doesn't have to do any special handling. If, for example, the consumer needs to know an array of optional items is normally available, but is currently empty... The decoration in the property declaration looks like this:

<JsonPropertyAttribute("MyProperty", DefaultValueHandling:=NullValueHandling.Include)> Public Property MyProperty As New List(of String)

For those properties you don't want to have appear at all in the JSON change :=NullValueHandling.Include to :=NullValueHandling.Ignore. By the way - I've found that you can decorate a property for both XML and JSON serialization just fine (just put them right next to each other). This gives me the option to call the XML serializer in dotnet or the NewtonSoft serializer at will - both work side-by-side and my customers have the option to work with XML or JSON. This is slick as snot on a doorknob since I have customers that require both!

Similar to @sirthomas's answer, JSON.NET also respects the EmitDefaultValue property on DataMemberAttribute:

[DataMember(Name="property_name", EmitDefaultValue=false)]

This may be desirable if you are already using [DataContract] and [DataMember] in your model type and don't want to add JSON.NET-specific attributes.

Here's an option that's similar, but provides another choice:

public class DefaultJsonSerializer : JsonSerializerSettings
{
    public DefaultJsonSerializer()
    {
        NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore;
    }
}

Then, I use it like this:

JsonConvert.SerializeObject(postObj, new DefaultJsonSerializer());

The difference here is that:

• Reduces repeated code by instantiating and configuring JsonSerializerSettings each place it's used.
• Saves time in configuring every property of every object to be serialized.
• Still gives other developers flexibility in serialization options, rather than having the property explicitly specified on a reusable object.
• My use-case is that the code is a 3rd party library and I don't want to force serialization options on developers who would want to reuse my classes.
• Potential drawbacks are that it's another object that other developers would need to know about, or if your application is small and this approach wouldn't matter for a single serialization.

As can be seen in this link on their site (http://james.newtonking.com/archive/2009/10/23/efficient-json-with-json-net-reducing-serialized-json-size.aspx) I support using [Default()] to specify default values

Taken from the link

   public class Invoice
{
  public string Company { get; set; }
  public decimal Amount { get; set; }

  // false is default value of bool
  public bool Paid { get; set; }
  // null is default value of nullable
  public DateTime? PaidDate { get; set; }

  // customize default values
  [DefaultValue(30)]
  public int FollowUpDays { get; set; }
  [DefaultValue("")]
  public string FollowUpEmailAddress { get; set; }
}


Invoice invoice = new Invoice
{
  Company = "Acme Ltd.",
  Amount = 50.0m,
  Paid = false,
  FollowUpDays = 30,
  FollowUpEmailAddress = string.Empty,
  PaidDate = null
};

string included = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(invoice,
  Formatting.Indented,
  new JsonSerializerSettings { });

// {
//   "Company": "Acme Ltd.",
//   "Amount": 50.0,
//   "Paid": false,
//   "PaidDate": null,
//   "FollowUpDays": 30,
//   "FollowUpEmailAddress": ""
// }

string ignored = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(invoice,
  Formatting.Indented,
  new JsonSerializerSettings { DefaultValueHandling = DefaultValueHandling.Ignore });

// {
//   "Company": "Acme Ltd.",
//   "Amount": 50.0
// }

With System.Text.Json and .NET Core 3.0 this worked for me:

var jsonSerializerOptions = new JsonSerializerOptions()
{
    IgnoreNullValues = true
};
var myJson = JsonSerializer.Serialize(myObject, jsonSerializerOptions );

In .Net Core this is much easier now. In your startup.cs just add json options and you can configure the settings there.

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)

....

services.AddMvc().AddJsonOptions(options =>
{
   options.SerializerSettings.NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore;               
});

This does not exactly answer the original question, but may prove useful depending on the use case. (And since I wound up here after my search, it may be useful for others.)

In my most recent experience, I'm working with a PATCH api. If a property is specified but with no value given (null/undefined because it's js), then the property and value are removed from the object being patched. So I was looking for a way to selectively build an object that could be serialized in such a way that this would work.

I remembered seeing the ExpandoObject, but never had a true use case for it until today. This allows you to build an object dynamically, so you won't have null properties unless you want them there.

Here is a working fiddle, with the code below.

Results:

Standard class serialization
    noName: {"Name":null,"Company":"Acme"}
    noCompany: {"Name":"Fred Foo","Company":null}
    defaultEmpty: {"Name":null,"Company":null}
ExpandoObject serialization
    noName: {"Company":"Acme"}
    noCompany: {"name":"Fred Foo"}
    defaultEmpty: {}

Code:

using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System;
using System.Dynamic;
                    
public class Program
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        SampleObject noName = new SampleObject() { Company = "Acme" };
        SampleObject noCompany = new SampleObject() { Name = "Fred Foo" };
        SampleObject defaultEmpty = new SampleObject();
        
        
        Console.WriteLine("Standard class serialization");
        Console.WriteLine($"    noName: { JsonConvert.SerializeObject(noName) }");
        Console.WriteLine($"    noCompany: { JsonConvert.SerializeObject(noCompany) }");
        Console.WriteLine($"    defaultEmpty: { JsonConvert.SerializeObject(defaultEmpty) }");
        
        
        Console.WriteLine("ExpandoObject serialization");
        Console.WriteLine($"    noName: { JsonConvert.SerializeObject(noName.CreateDynamicForPatch()) }");
        Console.WriteLine($"    noCompany: { JsonConvert.SerializeObject(noCompany.CreateDynamicForPatch()) }");
        Console.WriteLine($"    defaultEmpty: { JsonConvert.SerializeObject(defaultEmpty.CreateDynamicForPatch()) }");
    }
}

public class SampleObject {
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Company { get; set; }
    
    public object CreateDynamicForPatch()
    {
        dynamic x = new ExpandoObject();
        
        if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(Name))
        {
            x.name = Name;
        }
        
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(Company))
        {
            x.Company = Company;
        }
        
        return x;
    }
}

An alternate solution using the JsonProperty attribute:

[JsonProperty(NullValueHandling=NullValueHandling.Ignore)]
// or
[JsonProperty("property_name", NullValueHandling=NullValueHandling.Ignore)]

// or for all properties in a class
[JsonObject(ItemNullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore)]

As seen in this online doc.

An adaption to @Mrchief's / @amit's answer, but for people using VB

 Dim JSONOut As String = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(
           myContainerObject, 
           New JsonSerializerSettings With {
                 .NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore
               }
  )

See: "Object Initializers: Named and Anonymous Types (Visual Basic)"

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb385125.aspx

You can do this to ignore all nulls in an object you're serializing, and any null properties won't then appear in the JSON

JsonSerializerSettings settings = new JsonSerializerSettings();
settings.NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore;
var myJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myObject, settings);