c# - Tell Json.Net to write a single-quote rather than a double quote when serializing objects

Question

When calling Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myObject) I'm getting keys and values enclosed in double quotes like this:

{"key" : "value"}

I would like them to be enclosed in single-quotes like this:

{'key' : 'value'}

Is it possible to do using Json.Net?

Answer 1

Yes, this is possible. If you use a JsonTextWriter explicitly instead of using JsonConvert.SerializeObject(), you can set the QuoteChar to a single quote.

var obj = new { key = "value" };

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
using (StringWriter sw = new StringWriter(sb))
using (JsonTextWriter writer = new JsonTextWriter(sw))
{
    writer.QuoteChar = ''';

    JsonSerializer ser = new JsonSerializer();
    ser.Serialize(writer, obj);
}

Console.WriteLine(sb.ToString());

Output:

{'key':'value'}

Fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/LGRl1k

Keep in mind that using single quotes around keys and values in JSON is considered non-standard (see JSON.org), and may cause problems for parsers that adhere strictly to the standard.