JSON.NET Error Self referencing loop detected for type

Question

I tried to serialize POCO class that was automatically generated from Entity Data Model .edmx and when I used

JsonConvert.SerializeObject 

Answer 1

I had this exception and my working solution is Easy and Simple,

Ignore the Referenced property by adding the JsonIgnore attribute to it:

[JsonIgnore]
public MyClass currentClass { get; set; }

Reset the property when you Deserialize it:

Source = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyObject>(JsonTxt);
foreach (var item in Source)
        {
            Source.MyClass = item;
        }

using Newtonsoft.Json;

Answer 2

C# code:

            var jsonSerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings
            {
                ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Serialize,
                PreserveReferencesHandling = PreserveReferencesHandling.Objects,
            };

            var jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(object2Serialize, jsonSerializerSettings);

            var filePath = @"E:\json.json";

            File.WriteAllText(filePath, jsonString);

Answer 3

Use this in WebApiConfig.cs class :

var json = config.Formatters.JsonFormatter;
json.SerializerSettings.PreserveReferencesHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.PreserveReferencesHandling.Objects;
config.Formatters.Remove(config.Formatters.XmlFormatter);

Answer 4

Please also make sure to use await and async in you method. You can get this error if your object are not serialized properly.

Answer 5

Use JsonSerializerSettings

• ReferenceLoopHandling.Error (default) will error if a reference loop is encountered. This is why you get an exception.
• ReferenceLoopHandling.Serialize is useful if objects are nested but not indefinitely.
• ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore will not serialize an object if it is a child object of itself.

Example:

JsonConvert.SerializeObject(YourPOCOHere, Formatting.Indented, 
new JsonSerializerSettings 
{ 
        ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Serialize
});

Should you have to serialize an object that is nested indefinitely you can use PreserveObjectReferences to avoid a StackOverflowException.

Example:

JsonConvert.SerializeObject(YourPOCOHere, Formatting.Indented, 
new JsonSerializerSettings 
{ 
        PreserveReferencesHandling = PreserveReferencesHandling.Objects
});

Pick what makes sense for the object you are serializing.

Reference http://james.newtonking.com/json/help/

Answer 6

My Problem Solved With Custom Config JsonSerializerSettings:

services.AddMvc(
  // ...
               ).AddJsonOptions(opt =>
                 {
                opt.SerializerSettings.ReferenceLoopHandling =
                    Newtonsoft.Json.ReferenceLoopHandling.Serialize;
                opt.SerializerSettings.PreserveReferencesHandling =
                    Newtonsoft.Json.PreserveReferencesHandling.Objects;
                 });