C# Json.NET Render Flags Enum as String Array

Question

In a .NET Application, I have a set of values that are stored as a [Flags] enum. I want to serialize these to json, but instead of having the result be an integer, I'd like to get an array of string for the flags that are active.

So if I have the following code

[Flags]
public enum F
{
    Val1 = 1,
    Val2 = 2,
    Val4 = 4,
    Val8 = 8

}

public class C
{        
    public F Flags { get; set; }
}

string Serialize() {
    return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new C { Flags = F.Val1 | F.Val4 });
}

I want the Serialize() method to return:

"{ Flags: [ "Val1", "Val4" ] }"

Instead of:

"{ Flags: 5 }"

Answer 1

You have to implement your own converter. Here's an example (a particularly dirty and hacky way of doing it, but it serves as a good demo):

public class FlagConverter : JsonConverter
{
    public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader,  Type objectType, Object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        //If you need to deserialize, fill in the code here
        return null;
    }

    public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, Object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        var flags = value.ToString()
            .Split(new[] { ", " }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
            .Select(f => $"\"{f}\"");

        writer.WriteRawValue($"[{string.Join(", ", flags)}]");
    }

    public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
    {
        return true;
    }
}

Now decorate your enum like this:

[Flags]
[JsonConverter(typeof(FlagConverter))]
public enum F
{
    Val1 = 1,
    Val2 = 2,
    Val4 = 4,
    Val8 = 8
}

And your example serialisation code will now output this:

{"Flags":["Val1", "Val4"]}