Can JavaScriptSerializer exclude properties with null/default values?

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I'm using JavaScriptSerializer to serialize some entity objects.

The problem is, many of the public properties contain null or default values. Is there any way to make JavaScriptSerializer exclude properties with null or default values?

I would like the resulting JSON to be less verbose.

7 Answers

The solution that worked for me:

The serialized class and properties would be decorated as follows:

[DataContract]
public class MyDataClass
{
  [DataMember(Name = "LabelInJson", IsRequired = false)]
  public string MyProperty { get; set; }
}

IsRequired was the key item.

The actual serialization could be done using DataContractJsonSerializer:

public static string Serialize<T>(T obj)
{
  string returnVal = "";
  try
  {
    DataContractJsonSerializer serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(obj.GetType());
    using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
    {
      serializer.WriteObject(ms, obj);
      returnVal = Encoding.Default.GetString(ms.ToArray());
    }
  }
  catch (Exception /*exception*/)
  {
    returnVal = "";
    //log error
  }
  return returnVal;
}

This code is block null and default(0) values for numeric types

private class NullPropertiesConverter: JavaScriptConverter {
 public override object Deserialize(IDictionary < string, object > dictionary, Type type, JavaScriptSerializer serializer) {
  throw new NotImplementedException();
 }

 public override IDictionary < string, object > Serialize(object obj, JavaScriptSerializer serializer) {
  var jsonExample = new Dictionary < string,
   object > ();
  foreach(var prop in obj.GetType().GetProperties()) {
   //this object is nullable 
   var nullableobj = prop.PropertyType.IsGenericType && prop.PropertyType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Nullable < > );
   //check if decorated with ScriptIgnore attribute
   bool ignoreProp = prop.IsDefined(typeof(ScriptIgnoreAttribute), true);

   var value = prop.GetValue(obj, System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Public, null, null, null);
   int i;
   //Object is not nullable and value=0 , it is a default value for numeric types 
   if (!(nullableobj == false && value != null && (int.TryParse(value.ToString(), out i) ? i : 1) == 0) && value != null && !ignoreProp)
    jsonExample.Add(prop.Name, value);
  }

  return jsonExample;
 }

 public override IEnumerable < Type > SupportedTypes {
  get {
   return GetType().Assembly.GetTypes();
  }
 }
}
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