c# - Order of serialized fields using JSON.NET

Question

Is there a way to specify the order of fields in a serialized JSON object using JSON.NET?

It would be sufficient to specify that a single field always appear first.

Answer 1

The supported way is to use the JsonProperty attribute on the class properties that you want to set the order for. Read the JsonPropertyAttribute order documentation for more information.

Pass the JsonProperty an Order value and the serializer will take care of the rest.

 [JsonProperty(Order = 1)]

This is very similar to the

 DataMember(Order = 1) 

of the System.Runtime.Serialization days.

Here is an important note from @kevin-babcock

... setting the order to 1 will only work if you set an order greater than 1 on all other properties. By default any property without an Order setting will be given an order of -1. So you must either give all serialized properties and order, or set your first item to -2