How to return list of integer as JSON objects in ASP.net MVC 5

Question

I am learning ASP.Net MVC5. And I have a case where I need to return a JSON result. Currently, I have list of integer. But I want to return it as json objects. Below is what I have

    [HttpGet]
    public ActionResult hello()
    {
        var x = SMS_DAL._DalColl.lstOfID;
        return Json(x, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
    }

Observation: the variable x contains list of integer . And I want to return it as JSON objects. Below is how x looks like during VS debugging.

X    Count = 3
  [0]   -1
  [1]    2134....
  [2]    28463

I have studied JSON and it contains of key value pair like below:

{
    "id": 1,
    "name": "A green door",
    "price": 12.50,
}

So, I ran the controller action and checked the values in Advanced Rest Client.

We can clearly see the value I got are like below

[Array[3]

0: -1

1: 2134...

2: 2843

]

Where are the "double quotes" and where are the "curly braces" representing key and values. Why don't I see them. The result that I am getting are they actually JSON? please guide me.

Answer 1

No matter what you have into list inside, you can return it as Json. You code should be looking something like this :

public ActionResult GetNewChatPosts()
{   
    List integerList = new List<int>();
    return Json(list);
}

Answer 2

Your action is returning an array and that is correct JSON object. Basically, any array is a JSON object if it holds appropriate values - string, number, object, array, boolean or null.
Quick read: https://www.w3schools.com/js/js_json_arrays.asp

If you want a key for the array, return an object in JSON format:

public class TestAPIController : Controller
{
    [HttpGet]
    public ActionResult Data()
    {
        return Json(new ArrayResult { Arr = new int[] { 1, 2, 3 } });
    }
}

public class ArrayResult
{
    public int[] Arr { get; set; }
}

this will return:

{arr: [1,2,3]}