Imports System

Imports System.Linq

​

Imports Newtonsoft.Json

Imports Newtonsoft.Json.Linq

Imports Newtonsoft.Json.Converters

Imports Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization

​

​

    <JsonConverter(GetType(ObjectToArrayConverter(Of Actor)))> _

    Public Class Actor

​

        ' spoiler property to make sure readonly properties do not mess things up.

        Public Readonly Property AReadOnlyNumber() As Integer

        Get

            Return NumberOfMovies + NumberOfAwards + NumberOfTVshows

        End Get

        End Property

        ' Use [JsonProperty(Order=x)] //http://www.newtonsoft.com/json/help/html/JsonPropertyOrder.htm to explicitly set the order of properties

        <JsonProperty(Order := 0)> _

        Public Property Name As String

        <JsonProperty(Order := 1)> _

        Public Property NumberOfMovies As Integer

        <JsonProperty(Order := 2)> _

        Public Property NumberOfAwards As Integer

        <JsonProperty(Order := 3)> _

        Public Property NumberOfTVshows As Integer

    End Class

    Public Class ObjectToArrayConverter(Of T)

        Inherits JsonConverter

        Public Overrides Function CanConvert(objectType As Type) As Boolean

            Return GetType(T) = objectType

        End Function

        Private Shared Function ShouldSkip(p As JsonProperty) As Boolean

            Return p.Ignored Or Not p.Readable Or Not p.Writable

        End Function

        Public Overrides Sub WriteJson(writer As JsonWriter, value As Object, serializer As JsonSerializer)

            If value Is Nothing Then

                writer.WriteNull()

            Else

                Dim type = value.GetType()

                Dim contract = TryCast(serializer.ContractResolver.ResolveContract(type), JsonObjectContract)

                If contract Is Nothing Then

                    Throw New JsonSerializationException("invalid type " & type.FullName)

                End If

                Dim list = contract.Properties.Where(Function(p) Not ShouldSkip(p)).Select(Function(p) p.ValueProvider.GetValue(value))

                serializer.Serialize(writer, list)

            End If

        End Sub

        Public Overrides Function ReadJson(reader As JsonReader, objectType As Type, existingValue As Object, serializer As JsonSerializer) As Object

            If reader.TokenType = JTokenType.Null Then

                Return Nothing

            End If

            Dim token = JArray.Load(reader)

            Dim contract = TryCast(serializer.ContractResolver.ResolveContract(objectType), JsonObjectContract)

            If contract Is Nothing Then

                Throw New JsonSerializationException("invalid type " & objectType.FullName)

            End If

            Dim value = If(existingValue, contract.DefaultCreator()())

            For Each pair In contract.Properties.Where(Function(p) Not ShouldSkip(p)).Zip(token, Function(p, v) New With { Key.Value = v, Key.Property = p })

                Dim propertyValue = pair.Value.ToObject(pair.Property.PropertyType, serializer)

                pair.Property.ValueProvider.SetValue(value, propertyValue)

            Next

            Return value

        End Function

    End Class

​

Public Module Module1

    Public Sub Main()

        Dim actor = New Actor() With { _

            .Name = "Clooney", _

            .NumberOfMovies = 2, _

            .NumberOfAwards = 30, _

            .NumberOfTVshows = 4 _

        }

        Dim json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(actor, Formatting.Indented)

        Console.WriteLine(json)

        Dim actor2 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of Actor)(json)

        If actor.Name <> actor2.Name OrElse actor.NumberOfMovies <> actor2.NumberOfMovies OrElse actor.NumberOfAwards <> actor2.NumberOfAwards OrElse actor.NumberOfTVshows <> actor2.NumberOfTVshows Then

            Throw New InvalidOperationException()

        End If  

        Console.WriteLine(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(actor2, Formatting.Indented))

    End Sub

End Module