Deserialize JSON to Array or List with HTTPClient .ReadAsAsync using .NET 4.0 Task pattern

Question

I\'m trying to deserialize the JSON returned from http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?query=nursing+jobs using the .NET 4.0 Task pattern. It returns this JSON

Answer 1

The return type depends on the server, sometimes the response is indeed a JSON array but sent as text/plain

Setting the accept headers in the request should get the correct type:

client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json")); 

which can then be serialized to a JSON list or array. Thanks for the comment from @svick which made me curious that it should work.

The Exception I got without configuring the accept headers was System.Net.Http.UnsupportedMediaTypeException.

Following code is cleaner and should work (untested, but works in my case):

    var client = new HttpClient();
    client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
    var response = await client.GetAsync("http://api.usa.gov/jobs/search.json?query=nursing+jobs");
    var model = await response.Content.ReadAsAsync>();