using System;

using System.Collections;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Linq;

using System.Text;

using System.Diagnostics;

using System.IO;

​

using Newtonsoft.Json;

using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;

using Newtonsoft.Json.Converters;

using Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization;

using System.Web.SessionState;

​

​

    public class MyFirstClass

    {

        public int Id { get; set; }

        public string Name { get; set; }

        public List<MySecondClass> Roles { get; set; }

    }

​

    public class MySecondClass

    {

        public List<MyThirdClass> Roles { get; set; }

    }

​

    public class MyThirdClass

    {

        public int RoleId { get; set; }

        public string RoleName { get; set; }

    }

​

    public sealed class MyThirdClassStringConverter : JsonConverter

    {

        readonly JsonSerializerSettings settings;

​

        public MyThirdClassStringConverter() : this(null) { }

​

        public MyThirdClassStringConverter(JsonSerializerSettings settings)

        {

            this.settings = settings;

        }

​

        JsonSerializer GetInnerSerializer()

        {

            var innerSerializer = JsonSerializer.CreateDefault(settings);

            for (int i = innerSerializer.Converters.Count - 1; i >= 0; i--)

                if (innerSerializer.Converters[i] is MyThirdClassStringConverter)

                    innerSerializer.Converters.RemoveAt(i);

            return innerSerializer;

        }

​

        public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)

        {

            return typeof(MyThirdClass).IsAssignableFrom(objectType);

        }

​

        public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)

        {

            if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.Null)

                return null;

            var innerSerializer = GetInnerSerializer();

            if (reader.TokenType == JsonToken.String)

            {

                var s = reader.Value.ToString();

                using (var innerReader = new StringReader(s))

                    return innerSerializer.Deserialize(innerReader, objectType);

            }

            else

            {

                return innerSerializer.Deserialize(reader, objectType);

            }

        }

​

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

        {

            var innerSerializer = GetInnerSerializer();

            var sb = new StringBuilder();

            using (var innerWriter = new StringWriter(sb))

                innerSerializer.Serialize(innerWriter, value);

            writer.WriteValue(sb.ToString());

        }

    }

    public class Program

    {

        static string GetJson()

        {

            var json = @"{

  ""Id"": 1,

  ""Name"": ""1"",

  ""Roles"": [

    {

      ""Roles"": [

        ""{\""RoleId\"":123,\""RoleName\"":\""123\""}"",

        ""{\""RoleId\"":234,\""RoleName\"":\""234\""}""

      ]

    },

    {

      ""Roles"": [

        ""{\""RoleId\"":123,\""RoleName\"":\""123\""}"",

        ""{\""RoleId\"":234,\""RoleName\"":\""234\""}""

      ]

    }

  ]

}";

            return json;

        }

​

        public static void Test()

        {

            var stringJson = GetJson();

            Console.WriteLine("Original JSON: ");

            Console.WriteLine("");

            Console.WriteLine(stringJson);

            Console.WriteLine("");

​

            var stringSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings { Converters = new[] { new MyThirdClassStringConverter() } };

​

            // Deserialize JSON where MyThirdClass objects are embedded strings

            var root = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyFirstClass>(stringJson, stringSettings);

​

            // Re-serialize to JSON where MyThirdClass objects are objects

            var newNonStringJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(root, Formatting.Indented);

            // Re-serialize to JSON where MyThirdClass objects are embedded strings

            var newStringJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(root, Formatting.Indented, stringSettings);

​

            Console.WriteLine("Re-serialized JSON with MyThirdClass serialized as objects: ");

            Console.WriteLine(newNonStringJson);

            Console.WriteLine("Re-serialized JSON with MyThirdClass serialized as strings: ");

            Console.WriteLine(newStringJson);

​

            if (!JToken.DeepEquals(JToken.Parse(stringJson), JToken.Parse(newStringJson)))

            {

                throw new InvalidOperationException("JToken.DeepEquals(JToken.Parse(stringJson), JToken.Parse(newStringJson))");

            }

            else

            {

                Console.WriteLine("Original and re-serialized JSON with MyThirdClass converted to strings are identical.");

            }

            if (!JToken.DeepEquals(JToken.FromObject(root), JToken.FromObject(JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<MyFirstClass>(newNonStringJson, stringSettings))))

            {

                throw new InvalidOperationException("Deserializing JSON with objects using MyThirdClassStringConverter failed");

            }

            else

            {

                Console.WriteLine("Deserializing JSON with objects using MyThirdClassStringConverter succeeded");

            }

        }

​

        public static void Main()

        {

            Test();

        }

    }