Question

With the built-in json converter I return multiple objects in my action like this:

return Json(new { success = true, data = units });

When I use the JSON.NET library how can I do the same?

This does obviously not compile:

return new { success = true, data = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(units) };

I do not want to create an extra viewmodel for this containing both properties.

Do I have a wrong understanding of the default Json javascript serializer maybe ?

Answer 1

If you want to use Newtonsoft.Json to serialise your objects, you can create a new ActionResult class and pass the data in the result.

For example:

public class NewtonsoftJsonResult : ContentResult
{
    private readonly object _data;

    public NewtonsoftJsonResult(object data)
    {
        _data = data;
    }

    public override void ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context)
    {
        Content = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(_data);
        ContentType = "application/json";

        base.ExecuteResult(context);
    }
}

Just return your custom ActionResult with the anonymous object as data:

public ActionResult Index()
{
    return new NewtonsoftJsonResult(new { success = true, data = units});
}