using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Linq;

using Newtonsoft.Json;

using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;

public class Program

{

    public static void Main()

    {

        string animalsJson = @"

            {

                ""animals"": [

                    {""name"": ""Raven"", ""wings"": 2},

                    {""name"": ""Wolf"", ""wings"": 0}

                ],

                ""count"": 2

            }";

​

        string vehiclesJson = @"

            {

                ""vehicles"": [

                    {""type"": ""Car"", ""wheels"": 4},

                    {""type"": ""Motorcycle"", ""wheels"": 2},

                    {""type"": ""Boat"", ""wheels"": 0}

                ],

                ""count"": 3

            }";

​

        var animalsResponse = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<CollectionResponse<Animal>>(animalsJson);

        Console.WriteLine($"There are {animalsResponse.Count} animals");

        foreach (Animal animal in animalsResponse.Items)

        {

            Console.WriteLine($"A {animal.Name} has {animal.Wings} wings");

        }

        Console.WriteLine();

​

        var vehiclesResponse = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<CollectionResponse<Vehicle>>(vehiclesJson);

        Console.WriteLine($"There are {vehiclesResponse.Count} animals");

        foreach (Vehicle vehicle in vehiclesResponse.Items)

        {

            Console.WriteLine($"A {vehicle.Type} has {vehicle.Wheels} wheels");

        }

    }

    private static void DeserializeAndDump<T>(string json)

    {

    }

}

​

class Animal

{

    public string Name { get; set; }

    public int Wings { get; set; }

}

class Vehicle

{

    public string Type { get; set; }

    public int Wheels { get; set; }

}

​

[JsonConverter(typeof(CollectionJsonConverter))]

class CollectionResponse<T>

{

    public List<T> Items { get; set; }

    public int Count { get; set; }

}

​

class CollectionJsonConverter : JsonConverter

{

    public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)

    {

        return objectType.IsGenericType &&

            objectType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(CollectionResponse<>);

    }

​

    public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader,

        Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)

    {

        // load the JSON into a JObject

        var obj = JObject.Load(reader);

​

        // we expect one and only one list of items; don't care what its name is

        var itemsProp = obj.Properties().Single(p => p.Value.Type == JTokenType.Array);

​

        // replace the existing list property with a new one called "items"

        itemsProp.Replace(new JProperty("items", itemsProp.Value));

​

        // create an insteance of the CollectionResponse model

        var instance = Activator.CreateInstance(objectType);

​

        // populate it from the modified JObject

        serializer.Populate(obj.CreateReader(), instance);

​

        return instance;

    }

​

    public override bool CanWrite => false;

​

    public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)

    {

        throw new NotImplementedException();

    }

}

​