How to cast JObject in JSON.Net to T

Question

I know that I can use JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(string), however, I need to peek into the object\'s _type (which may not be the first

Answer 1

JSON.NET has no direct ability to support both requisites:

• custom name of the property holding the type name
• look for the property anywhere in the object

The first requisites is fulfilled by JsonSubTypes The second one by specifying thh right MetadataPropertyHandling

Answer 2

First parse the JSON into a JObject. Then lookup the _type attribute using LINQ to JSON. Then switch depending on the value and cast using ToObject<T>:

var o = JObject.Parse(text);
var jsonType = (String)o["_type"];

switch(jsonType) {
    case "something": return o.ToObject<Type>();
    ...
}