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Copilot AI commented Dec 3, 2025

Summary

The deserialization examples showed JSON being deserialized into complex objects with collections and nested types, but only printed top-level properties. This left users uncertain whether child collections (IList<DateTimeOffset>, Dictionary<string, HighLowTemps>, string[]) were actually populated.

Changes:

  • C# (DeserializeExtra.cs): Added iteration code that prints all child collection elements
  • VB (DeserializeExtra.vb): Created new file matching C# functionality with equivalent iteration logic
  • Documentation (deserialization.md): Updated to reference new VB example and clarified description

Before:

Date: 8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM -07:00
TemperatureCelsius: 25
Summary: Hot

After:

Date: 8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM -07:00
TemperatureCelsius: 25
Summary: Hot
DateAvailable: 8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM -07:00
DateAvailable: 8/2/2019 12:00:00 AM -07:00
TemperatureRange: Cold, -10 - 20
TemperatureRange: Hot, 20 - 60
SummaryWord: Cool
SummaryWord: Windy
SummaryWord: Humid
Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Example for how to deserialize complex object is missing.</issue_title>
<issue_description>

Type of issue

Other (describe below)

Description

The examples show how to serialize a complex object, but they do not show how to deserialize it. They only show that the root object is deserialized. I suggest adding code like the following to show that the child objects are also deserialized:

		if (weatherForecast != null)
		{
			if (weatherForecast.DatesAvailable != null)
			{
				foreach (DateTimeOffset dateTimeOffset in weatherForecast.DatesAvailable)
				{
					Console.WriteLine(value: $"DateAvailable: {dateTimeOffset}");
				}
			}

			if (weatherForecast.TemperatureRanges != null)
			{
				foreach (KeyValuePair<string, HighLowTemps> weatherForecastTemperatureRange in weatherForecast.TemperatureRanges)
				{
					Console.WriteLine(value: $"TemperatureRange: {weatherForecastTemperatureRange.Key}, {weatherForecastTemperatureRange.Value.Low} - {weatherForecastTemperatureRange.Value.High}");
				}
			}

			if (weatherForecast.SummaryWords != null)
			{
				foreach (string summaryWord in weatherForecast.SummaryWords)
				{
					Console.WriteLine(value: $"SummaryWord: {summaryWord}");
				}
			}
		}

Output would then be:
Date: 8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM +02:00
TemperatureCelsius: 25
Summary: Hot
DateAvailable: 8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM +02:00
DateAvailable: 8/2/2019 12:00:00 AM +02:00
TemperatureRange: Cold, -10 - 20
TemperatureRange: Hot, 20 - 60
SummaryWord: Cool
SummaryWord: Windy
SummaryWord: Humid

It would also be extremely helpful to have an example on how to deserialize interfaces. E.g. like at https://gist.github.com/tonysneed/5e7988516b081d454cde95b5d729e1af

Page URL

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/serialization/system-text-json/how-to

Content source URL

https://github.com/dotnet/docs/blob/live/docs/standard/serialization/system-text-json/how-to.md

Document Version Independent Id

002f9f2a-48d1-0671-a079-b99b9f6bab58

Article author

gewarren

Metadata

  • ID: 588ae32f-3429-143f-824c-5ab2d046d24a
  • Service: dotnet-fundamentals

Associated WorkItem - 537288</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

@adegeo @gewarren I don't know if this still applies, but I found it while looking into a different PR related to JSON

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docs/standard/serialization/system-text-json/deserialization.md How to read JSON as .NET objects (deserialize)

Co-authored-by: gewarren <24882762+gewarren@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: gewarren <24882762+gewarren@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Add example for deserializing complex objects Add deserialization examples demonstrating child collection iteration Dec 3, 2025
Copilot finished work on behalf of gewarren December 3, 2025 23:46
Copilot AI requested a review from gewarren December 3, 2025 23:46
@gewarren gewarren marked this pull request as ready for review December 5, 2025 00:17
@gewarren gewarren requested a review from a team as a code owner December 5, 2025 00:17
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings December 5, 2025 00:17
@gewarren gewarren enabled auto-merge (squash) December 5, 2025 00:18
Copilot finished reviewing on behalf of gewarren December 5, 2025 00:30
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Pull request overview

This PR addresses a documentation gap by adding iteration code to demonstrate that child collections are properly populated during JSON deserialization. The changes enhance the deserialization examples with code that iterates through IList<DateTimeOffset>, Dictionary<string, HighLowTemps>, and string[] collections to prove they were successfully deserialized.

Key changes:

  • Added iteration logic to the C# deserialization example that prints all child collection elements
  • Created a new VB equivalent demonstrating the same functionality
  • Updated documentation to reference the new VB example and clarify the example's purpose

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file
File Description
docs/standard/serialization/system-text-json/snippets/how-to/vb/DeserializeExtra.vb New Visual Basic example file showing deserialization with child collection iteration
docs/standard/serialization/system-text-json/snippets/how-to/csharp/DeserializeExtra.cs Added iteration code for child collections and updated output comments
docs/standard/serialization/system-text-json/deserialization.md Updated to reference new VB example and clarified description
docs/standard/serialization/system-text-json/snippets/how-to/csharp/SerializeExtra.cs Modernized collection initialization syntax using collection expressions
docs/standard/serialization/system-text-json/snippets/how-to/csharp/Program.cs Test-related changes that should be reverted

//SerializeWithGenericParameter.Program.Main();
//SerializeWriteIndented.Program.Main();
//SerializeExtra.Program.Main();
SerializeExtra.Program.Main();
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Copilot AI Dec 5, 2025

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This change uncomments SerializeExtra.Program.Main() and comments out SerializeEnumCustomName.Run() on line 48. These appear to be test-related changes that should not be included in the PR. Please revert these changes to maintain the original state of the Program.cs file.

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Example for how to deserialize complex object is missing.

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