Issues with DocumentJsonSerializerOptions serialization and derived types

[giannik]

I'm having some issues lately with Serialization of derived C# types using DocumentJsonSerializerOptions .

In Orchard Core you can define the derived types for serialization from this serviceL

  services.AddJsonDerivedTypeInfo<derived, base>();

But I noticed lately (this was not happening about a month ago )that when you try to serialize the derived type that has been defined from the startup services that when you serialize it doesn't contain the type info metadata to later on deserialize it back to the derived type.
As an example the following code serializes the ContentDeploymentStep without the type info metadata :

public class TestController : Controller
  private readonly JsonSerializerOptions _jsonSerializerOptions;
 public TestController (
        IOptions<DocumentJsonSerializerOptions> jsonSerializerOptions
  )
{
   _jsonSerializerOptions = jsonSerializerOptions.Value.SerializerOptions;
}
  public Task<IActionResult> Test()
    {
         var TestDerivedType= new ContentDeploymentStep(){Name = "Test"};
         var serialized= JsonSerializer.Serialize(TestDerivedType, _jsonSerializerOptions); //serialized string does not contain the type information 
           metadata
    }

     
  //later on when deserializing back it does not convert to the derived class but to base class

Can someone please confirm if it happens on their side?

[MarGraz]

I'm encountering a similar issue, I just upgraded from 1.8.2 to 2.1.2, and I'm trying to deserialize my UserDetails (is a ContentPart), a ContentType where I added the Stereotype CustomUserSettings. But during the implicit cast, when I execute:

var userDetails = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<UserDetails>(userDetailsJson, jsonOptions); all the value are set to null.

But if I convert the UserDetails property to a string like this:

string? userDetailsJson = user.Properties["UserDetails"]?.ToString(); it contains values.

@giannik @Piedone what I'm doing wrong here? 🤔

public class UserApiModel : IValidatableObject
{
    private string _phoneNumber;

    [JsonIgnore]
    public string? UserId { get; set; }

    [Required(ErrorMessage = $"{nameof(UserName)} is required.")]
    public string UserName { get; set; }
    [Required(ErrorMessage = $"{nameof(Email)} is required.")]
    public string Email { get; set; }
    [Required(ErrorMessage = $"{nameof(PhoneNumber)} is required.")]
    public string PhoneNumber
    {
        get => _phoneNumber;
        set
        {
            _phoneNumber = value;
            InitializeUserDetails();
        }
    }
    [Required(ErrorMessage = $"{nameof(IsEnabled)} is required.")]
    public bool IsEnabled { get; set; } = false;
    [JsonIgnore]
    public bool TwoFactorEnabled { get; set; } = false;
    [JsonIgnore]
    public bool IsLockoutEnabled { get; set; } = true;
    [NotNullOrEmptyCollection($"{nameof(RoleNames)} list must contain at least one element.")]
    public List<string> RoleNames { get; set; }
    public UserDetailsApiModel UserDetails { get; set; }

    public void InitializeUserDetails()
    {
        if (UserDetails == null)
        {
            UserDetails = new UserDetailsApiModel();
        }

        UserDetails.SetPhone(PhoneNumber);
    }

    // Method implemented because of "IValidatableObject" interface, and necessary to validate the complex object contained in this class
    public IEnumerable<ValidationResult> Validate(ValidationContext validationContext)
    {
        List<ValidationResult> result = new List<ValidationResult>();

        if (UserDetails != null)
        {
            Validator.TryValidateObject(UserDetails, new ValidationContext(UserDetails), result, true);
        }

        return result;
    }

    // Implicit cast
    public static implicit operator UserApiModel(OrchardCore.Users.Models.User user)
    {
        
        string? userDetailsJson = user.Properties["UserDetails"]?.ToString(); // ------ Here I have values
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(userDetailsJson))
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException("UserDetails JSON is null or empty.");
        }

        var jsonOptions = ShellScope.Services
            .GetRequiredService<IOptions<DocumentJsonSerializerOptions>>()
            .Value.SerializerOptions;

        UserDetails? userDetails = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<UserDetails>(userDetailsJson, jsonOptions);
        if (userDetails == null) // --------- Here the deserialization doesn't work
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException("Failed to deserialize UserDetails.");
        }

        return new UserApiModel
        {
            UserId = user.UserId,
            UserName = user.UserName,
            Email = user.Email,
            PhoneNumber = user.PhoneNumber,
            IsEnabled = user.IsEnabled,
            TwoFactorEnabled = user.TwoFactorEnabled,
            IsLockoutEnabled = user.IsLockoutEnabled,
            RoleNames = user.RoleNames.ToList(),
            UserDetails = new UserDetailsApiModel
            {      
                    Typology = Enum.Parse<Typology>(userDetails.Typology.Text),
                    Name = userDetails.Name.Text,
                    Surname = userDetails.Surname.Text,
                    WhatsApp = userDetails.WhatsApp.Text,
                    Street = userDetails.Street.Text,
                    StreetNumber = userDetails.StreetNumber.Text,
                    City = userDetails.City.Text,
                    ZipCode = userDetails.ZipCode.Text,
                    Website = new WebsiteapiModel
                    {
                        Url = userDetails.Website.Url,
                        Text = userDetails.Website.Text
                    },
                    Facebook = new FacebookApiModel
                    {
                        Url = userDetails.Facebook.Url,
                        Text = userDetails.Facebook.Text
                    },
                    Instagram = new InstagramApiModel
                    {
                        Url = userDetails.Instagram.Url,
                        Text = userDetails.Instagram.Text
                    },
                    Description = userDetails.Description.Text,
                    StripeAccountId = userDetails.StripeAccountId.Text,
                    Logo = new LogoApiModel
                    {
                        Path = userDetails.Logo.Paths.FirstOrDefault()
                    }
            }
        };
    }
}

Thank you

[MikeAlhayek]

@MarGraz try changing your code to the following instead

public class UserApiModel : IValidatableObject
{
    private string _phoneNumber;

    [JsonIgnore]
    public string? UserId { get; set; } // UserId of the item created in Orchard Core

    [Required(ErrorMessage = $"{nameof(UserName)} is required.")]
    public string UserName { get; set; }
    [Required(ErrorMessage = $"{nameof(Email)} is required.")]
    public string Email { get; set; }
    [Required(ErrorMessage = $"{nameof(PhoneNumber)} is required.")]
    public string PhoneNumber
    {
        get => _phoneNumber;
        set
        {
            _phoneNumber = value;
            InitializeUserDetails();
        }
    }
    [Required(ErrorMessage = $"{nameof(IsEnabled)} is required.")]
    public bool IsEnabled { get; set; } = false;
    [JsonIgnore]
    public bool TwoFactorEnabled { get; set; } = false;
    [JsonIgnore]
    public bool IsLockoutEnabled { get; set; } = true;
    [NotNullOrEmptyCollection($"{nameof(RoleNames)} list must contain at least one element.")]
    public List<string> RoleNames { get; set; }
    public UserDetailsApiModel UserDetails { get; set; }

    // Set the same Phone value in UserDetails
    public void InitializeUserDetails()
    {
        if (UserDetails == null)
        {
            UserDetails = new UserDetailsApiModel();
        }

        UserDetails.SetPhone(PhoneNumber);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Method implemented because of "IValidatableObject" interface, and necessary to validate the complex object contained in this class
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="validationContext">The validation context that is coming</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public IEnumerable<ValidationResult> Validate(ValidationContext validationContext)
    {
        List<ValidationResult> result = new List<ValidationResult>();

        if (UserDetails != null)
        {
            Validator.TryValidateObject(UserDetails, new ValidationContext(UserDetails), result, true);
        }

        return result;
    }

    // Implicit cast
    public static implicit operator UserApiModel(OrchardCore.Users.Models.User user)
    {
        // var userDetails = (UserDetails)(JObject)user.Properties["UserDetails"];

        var userDetailsJsonNode = user.Properties["UserDetails"] as JsonNode;
        if (userDetailsJsonNode == null)
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException("UserDetails is not present or invalid.");
        }

        var jsonOptions = ShellScope.Services
            .GetRequiredService<IOptions<DocumentJsonSerializerOptions>>()
            .Value.SerializerOptions;

        // Deserializza UserDetails in un oggetto UserDetails
        var userDetails = userDetailsJsonNode.Deserialize<UserDetails>(jsonOptions);
        if (userDetails == null)
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException("Failed to deserialize UserDetails.");
        }

        var typology = default(Typology);

        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(userDetails.Typology?.Text))
        {
            Enum.TryParse<Typology>(userDetails.Typology.Text, out typology);
        }

        return new UserApiModel
        {
            UserId = user.UserId,
            UserName = user.UserName,
            Email = user.Email,
            PhoneNumber = user.PhoneNumber,
            IsEnabled = user.IsEnabled,
            TwoFactorEnabled = user.TwoFactorEnabled,
            IsLockoutEnabled = user.IsLockoutEnabled,
            RoleNames = user.RoleNames?.ToList() ?? [],
            UserDetails = new UserDetailsApiModel
            {
                Typology = typology,
                Name = userDetails.Name?.Text,
                Surname = userDetails.Surname?.Text,
                WhatsApp = userDetails.WhatsApp?.Text,
                Street = userDetails.Street?.Text,
                StreetNumber = userDetails.StreetNumber?.Text,
                City = userDetails.City?.Text,
                ZipCode = userDetails.ZipCode?.Text,
                Website = new WebsiteapiModel
                {
                    Url = userDetails.Website?.Url,
                    Text = userDetails.Website?.Text
                },
                Facebook = new FacebookApiModel
                {
                    Url = userDetails.Facebook?.Url,
                    Text = userDetails.Facebook?.Text
                },
                Instagram = new InstagramApiModel
                {
                    Url = userDetails.Instagram?.Url,
                    Text = userDetails.Instagram?.Text
                },
                Description = userDetails.Description?.Text,
                StripeAccountId = userDetails.StripeAccountId?.Text,
                Logo = new LogoApiModel
                {
                    Path = userDetails.Logo?.Paths?.FirstOrDefault() ?? string.Empty,
                }
            }
        };
    }
}

[MarGraz]

@MikeAlhayek thank you again for your reply and support.

Now I don't get an exception, but all the properties returned in the UserDetails object are null or empty. But UserDetails contains some values... It seems like var userDetails = userDetailsJsonNode.Deserialize<UserDetails>(jsonOptions); is not deserializing.
Maybe jsonOptions should be passed in another way, or configured? I don't know.

I will show you what is inside userDetailsJsonNode, and what I get as returned json.
This is what's inside userDetailsJsonNode (some properties are populated):

{
   "ContentItemId":"4h5gqq70mgtt26nvzzhveay5xb",
   "ContentItemVersionId":null,
   "ContentType":"UserDetails",
   "DisplayText":null,
   "Latest":false,
   "Published":false,
   "ModifiedUtc":null,
   "PublishedUtc":null,
   "CreatedUtc":null,
   "Owner":null,
   "Author":null,
   "UserDetails":{
      "Typology":{
         "Text":"LIB"
      },
      "Name":{
         "Text":"Pluto Libreria"
      },
      "Surname":{
         "Text":"Di Test"
      },
      "WhatsApp":{
         "Text":null
      },
      "Street":{
         "Text":"Via della libreria"
      },
      "StreetNumber":{
         "Text":"1"
      },
      "City":{
         "Text":"Roma"
      },
      "ZipCode":{
         "Text":"01100"
      },
      "Logo":{
         "Paths":[
            "logo.png"
         ],
         "MediaTexts":null
      },
      "StripeAccountId":{
         "Text":null
      },
      "Description":{
         "Text":"Un test"
      },
      "Website":{
         "Url":null,
         "Text":null
      },
      "Facebook":{
         "Url":null,
         "Text":null
      },
      "Instagram":{
         "Url":null,
         "Text":null
      }
   }
}

This is the result returned, as you can see userDetails is not deserialized at all:

{
    "data": {
        "userName": "TestLib",
        "email": "myemail@myemail.dev",
        "phoneNumber": "+393331234567",
        "isEnabled": false,
        "roleNames": [
            "Base User"
        ],
        "userDetails": {
            "displayText": " ",
            "typology": 0,
            "tam": null,
            "name": null,
            "surname": null,
            "whatsApp": null,
            "street": null,
            "streetNumber": null,
            "city": null,
            "zipCode": null,
            "website": {
                "url": null,
                "text": null
            },
            "facebook": {
                "url": null,
                "text": null
            },
            "instagram": {
                "url": null,
                "text": null
            },
            "description": null,
            "logo": {
                "path": ""
            },
            "stripeAccountId": null
        }
    },
    "id": "a30619a1-9351-4d53-96e6-5274c72221a6",
    "statusCode": 200,
    "isSuccess": true,
    "errorMessage": null
}

Thank you

[MikeAlhayek]

Where does the "data" in the shared JSON is coming from. Maybe you are trying to convert (starting with "data") directly to UserDetails which is not going to work. Try to deserialize it to the following UserDetailsData instead

public class UserDetailsData
{
public UserDetails Data { get; set; }
}

[MarGraz]

@MikeAlhayek I have found the problem 🥳

First I want to reply to your question: the data property, is coming from my ApiResult model, that I use to wrap any response returned by the controller.
This is an example of the current endpoint where I use ApiResult that contains data and other properties:

        public async Task<IActionResult> GetByUserEmailAsync([FromQuery] string email)
        {
            ApiResult<UserApiModel> result = await _userHandler.GetByUserEmailAsync(email);
            return Ok(result);
        }

The problem with the deserialization was inside the implicit cast, because if you see here the userDetailsJsonNode json (first json pasted), it doesn't contain the data property, but the UserDetails object is a property inside the global object userDetailsJsonNode, so it is necessary to get it with ["UserDetails"]:

var userDetails = userDetailsJsonNode["UserDetails"].Deserialize<UserDetails>(jsonOptions);

So, this is the updated implicit cast that is working:

// Implicit cast
public static implicit operator UserApiModel(OrchardCore.Users.Models.User user)
{
    JsonNode? userDetailsJsonNode = user.Properties["UserDetails"] as JsonNode;
    if (userDetailsJsonNode == null)
    {
        throw new InvalidOperationException("UserDetails is not present or invalid.");
    }

    var jsonOptions = ShellScope.Services
        .GetRequiredService<IOptions<DocumentJsonSerializerOptions>>()
        .Value.SerializerOptions;

    UserDetails? userDetails = userDetailsJsonNode["UserDetails"].Deserialize<UserDetails>(jsonOptions);
    if (userDetails == null)
    {
        throw new InvalidOperationException("Failed to deserialize UserDetails.");
    }

    return new UserApiModel
    {
        UserId = user.UserId,
        UserName = user.UserName,
        Email = user.Email,
        PhoneNumber = user.PhoneNumber,
        IsEnabled = user.IsEnabled,
        TwoFactorEnabled = user.TwoFactorEnabled,
        IsLockoutEnabled = user.IsLockoutEnabled,
        RoleNames = user.RoleNames.ToList() ?? [],
        UserDetails = new UserDetailsApiModel
        {
            Typology = Enum.Parse<Typology>(userDetails.Typology.Text),
            Name = userDetails.Name?.Text,
            Surname = userDetails.Surname?.Text,
            WhatsApp = userDetails.WhatsApp?.Text,
            Street = userDetails.Street?.Text,
            StreetNumber = userDetails.StreetNumber?.Text,
            City = userDetails.City?.Text,
            ZipCode = userDetails.ZipCode?.Text,
            Website = new WebsiteapiModel
            {
                Url = userDetails.Website?.Url,
                Text = userDetails.Website?.Text
            },
            Facebook = new FacebookApiModel
            {
                Url = userDetails.Facebook?.Url,
                Text = userDetails.Facebook?.Text
            },
            Instagram = new InstagramApiModel
            {
                Url = userDetails.Instagram?.Url,
                Text = userDetails.Instagram?.Text
            },
            Description = userDetails.Description?.Text,
            StripeAccountId = userDetails.StripeAccountId?.Text,
            Logo = new LogoApiModel
            {
                Path = userDetails.Logo?.Paths?.FirstOrDefault() ?? string.Empty
            }
        }
    };
} 

Thank you so much @MikeAlhayek for your guidance and tips ☺️👌

[MikeAlhayek]

Glad your figured out the issue