How can I return json from my WCF rest service (.NET 4), using Json.Net, without it being a string, wrapped in quotes?

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I finally figured out a solution to this. It’s not what I would have preferred (which would be to return the specific object type, and somehow instruct WCF to use a Json.Net serializer, instead of the DataContractJsonSerializer), but it is working great, and it’s simple and clear.

Extending my contrived example using this new solution:

[WebGet(UriTemplate = "hello")]
public void SayHello()
{
    SimpleMessage message = new SimpleMessage() {Message = "Hello World"};
    string json = JsonConvert.Serialize(message);
    HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentType = "application/json; charset=utf-8";
    HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(json);
}

Note the return type of void. We do not return anything, since it would be serialized with DataContractJsonSerializer. Instead, I write directly to the response output stream. Since the return type is void, the processing pipeline doesn’t set the content-type to the default type of “application/json”, so I set it explicitly.

Because this uses HttpContext, I’m guessing it will only work if you have [AspNetCompatibilityRequirements(RequirementsMode = AspNetCompatibilityRequirementsMode.Required)] on your service class, since that will force requests to the service to go through the ASP.NET pipeline. Without the asp.net compatibility, the HttpContext will not be available, since wcf hosting is supposed to be host agnostic.

Using this method, the results look perfect in firebug for GET requests. Correct content-type, correct content length, and raw json, not wrapped in quotes. And, I’m getting the serialization I want using Json.Net. Best of both worlds.

I’m not 100% positive of what obstacles I might run into regarding deserialization, when my service methods have [DataContract] object types as input parameters. I’m assuming the DataContractJsonSerializer will be used for that too. Will cross that bridge when I come to it…if it creates a problem. It hasn’t so far, with my simple DTOs.

UPDATE
See Oleg’s answer (the UPDATE2 part). He changes the return type of the service method from void to System.ServiceModel.Channels.Message, and rather than using HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(), he uses:

return WebOperationContext.Current.CreateTextResponse (json,
    "application/json; charset=utf-8", Encoding.UTF8);

Which is indeed a better solution. Thank you Oleg.

UPDATE 2
There is yet another way of accomplishing this. Change your service’s return type from Message to Stream, and return this:

WebOperationContext.Current.OutgoingResponse.ContentType = "application/json; charset=utf-8";
return new MemoryStream(System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(json));

I haven’t done any specific tests, but it’s possible that this would be a better choice for methods that could potentially return large amounts of data. I don’t know if that matters for non-binary data though. Anyway, a thought.

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