How to read Google AJAX Feed API results from C# code?

Question

I want to use Goolge AJAX Feed API in my C# console application to save return feeds as C# collection so i can use this .net collcetion in my .net application.

I noticed google give a Java Access Code Snippets but I have no idea how to coding it in C#. I know there is a very good .net opensource library Json.NET we can use to read and write JSON formatted data.

Can someone give me an exmpale how to use C# and Json.NET play with Google AJAX Feed API?

Final Solution:

public class FeedApiResult
{
    public ResponseData responseData { get; set; }
    public string responseDetails { get; set; }
    public string responseStatus { get; set; }
}

public class ResponseData
{
    public  Feed feed { get; set; }
}

public class Feed
{
    public string title { get; set; }
    public string link { get; set; }
    public string author { get; set; }
    public string description { get; set; }
    public string type { get; set; }
    public List<Entry> entries { get; set; }
}

public class Entry
{
    public string title { get; set; }
    public string link { get; set; }
    public string author { get; set; }
    public string publishedDate { get; set; }
    public string contentSnippet { get; set; }
    public string content { get; set; }

}

var url = "http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/services/feed/load?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.digg.com%2Frss%2Findex.xml&amp;v=1.0";
var wc = new WebClient();
var rawFeedData = wc.DownloadString(url);

//You can use System.Web.Script.Serialization if you don't want to use Json.NET
JavaScriptSerializer ser = new JavaScriptSerializer();
FeedApiResult foo = ser.Deserialize<FeedApiResult>(rawFeedData);

//Json.NET also return you the same strong typed object     
var apiResult = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<FeedApiResult>(rawFeedData);

Answer 1

I've just looked at the examples, and here is how I'd go about it.

1. Construct the feed Url (read the documentation)
2. Use the WebClient to Download the URL as a String.
3. Use Json.NET to reads the string.
4. Use a for-loop to read each entries

For example, a quick untested hack:

// 1.
var url = "'http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/services/feed/load?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.digg.com%2Frss%2Findex.xml&v=1.0";

// 2.
var wc = new WebClient();
var rawFeedData = wc.DownloadString(url);

// 3.
var feedContent = JObject.Parse(rawFeedData);

// ...
var entries = feedContent["entries"];

for (int i = 0; i < entries.Length; i++) {
    var entry = entries[i];

    // insert entry into your desired collection
}

If however, you want strongly-typed class, you must first make a class that "looks like" the data that is returned from the feed api first, i.e.

public class FeedApiResult {
    public FeedApiFeedObj responseData { get; set; }
    // snip ...
}

public class FeedApiFeedObj {
    public string title { get; set; }
    public string link { get; set; }
    // snip ...
}

Then in step #3, you can use the deserializing method like this:

var apiResult = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<FeedApiResult>(feedContent)

...

Hope this helps!