JSON: Serializing types derived from IEnumerable

Question

JavaScriptSerializer serializes types derived from IEnumerable as JavaScript arrays. It convenient for arrays and lists but in some cases I need to serialize properties decl

Answer 1

You could try this:

var items = new[] { "aaabbb", "abcd", "bdsasd", "bsdqw" };
var data = (from x in items
            group x by x[0] into g
            select new
            {
                Key = g.Key,
                Value = g
            }).First();
var serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
var serialized = serializer.Serialize(data);

or if you prefer:

var items = new[] { "aaabbb", "abcd", "bdsasd", "bsdqw" };
var data = items.GroupBy(i => i[0])
    .Select(x => new { Key = x.Key, Value = x })
    .First();
var serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
var serialized = serializer.Serialize(data);

In both cases the result would be:

{"Key":"a","Value":["aaabbb","abcd"]}