C#•2y ago

✅ Parse .md like .json in C# class

Does anyone know how I can parse a "settings markdown" file into a C# class, like I could do with newtonsoft for JSON files? Example: I have this "settings.md" file

---
Title: myTitle
first_object_settings:
  title: some_title
  subtitle: some-subtitle
  button_content: my button content
second_object_header:
  title: another_title
  subtitle: another_subtitle
second_object_settings:
  url: some.url.here
  image: path/or/url/to/image
---

---
Title: myTitle
first_object_settings:
  title: some_title
  subtitle: some-subtitle
  button_content: my button content
second_object_header:
  title: another_title
  subtitle: another_subtitle
second_object_settings:
  url: some.url.here
  image: path/or/url/to/image
---

How can I parse this into a C# class like this:

public class Setting
{
  public string Title {get;set;}
  public FirstObject FirstObject {get;set;}
  public Header SecondObjectHeader {get;set;}
  public SecondObject SecondObjectContent {get;set;}
  //...
}

public class Header 
{
  public string Title {get;set;}
  public string Subtitle {get;set;}
}

public class SecondObject
{
  public string Url {get;set;}
  public string Image {get;set;}
}

public class Setting
{
  public string Title {get;set;}
  public FirstObject FirstObject {get;set;}
  public Header SecondObjectHeader {get;set;}
  public SecondObject SecondObjectContent {get;set;}
  //...
}

public class Header 
{
  public string Title {get;set;}
  public string Subtitle {get;set;}
}

public class SecondObject
{
  public string Url {get;set;}
  public string Image {get;set;}
}

(and following the same structure any number of other objects) I'm using DecapCMS in my Blazor project, but DecapCMS creates markdown files that I want to render the content into my blazor project The "settings" are also created in markdown, and regular content is written under the "header" from the markdown (blog example)

---
title: Blog Title
date: Creation Date
tags: Array of Tags
---
## Blog
some actual blog content written here like regular markdown

---
title: Blog Title
date: Creation Date
tags: Array of Tags
---
## Blog
some actual blog content written here like regular markdown

I'd want to parse that into a C# class too 😅 (and the regular content I can parse into HTML without issue)

71 Replies

malkavOP•2y ago

This is what I came up wit now, and it feel clunky 😅

public static T ParseSettings<T>(string path) where T : new()
    {
        if (!path.EndsWith(".md")) 
            throw new Exception("Settings can only be parsed of markdown files");
        List<string> preFile = File.ReadAllLines(path).ToList();
        preFile.RemoveAt(0);
        preFile.RemoveRange(
            preFile.LastIndexOf("---"), 
            preFile.Count - (preFile.LastIndexOf("---") + 1)
            );
        preFile.RemoveAt(preFile.LastIndexOf("---");
        string[] file = preFile.ToArray();
        
        ISerializer serializer = new SerializerBuilder()
            .WithNamingConvention(UnderscoredNamingConvention.Instance)
            .Build();
        string yml = serializer.Serialize(file);

        IDeserializer deserializer = new DeserializerBuilder()
            .WithNamingConvention(UnderscoredNamingConvention.Instance)
            .Build();
        return deserializer.Deserialize<T>(yml);
    }

public static T ParseSettings<T>(string path) where T : new()
    {
        if (!path.EndsWith(".md")) 
            throw new Exception("Settings can only be parsed of markdown files");
        List<string> preFile = File.ReadAllLines(path).ToList();
        preFile.RemoveAt(0);
        preFile.RemoveRange(
            preFile.LastIndexOf("---"), 
            preFile.Count - (preFile.LastIndexOf("---") + 1)
            );
        preFile.RemoveAt(preFile.LastIndexOf("---");
        string[] file = preFile.ToArray();
        
        ISerializer serializer = new SerializerBuilder()
            .WithNamingConvention(UnderscoredNamingConvention.Instance)
            .Build();
        string yml = serializer.Serialize(file);

        IDeserializer deserializer = new DeserializerBuilder()
            .WithNamingConvention(UnderscoredNamingConvention.Instance)
            .Build();
        return deserializer.Deserialize<T>(yml);
    }

That's what I've been trying so far, to turn the .md file into a yaml file. But technically I should be creating .md file into yaml AND a content string. Or I have to turn it into JSON and parse it that way. But I don't know how to turn .md into JSON objects 😅 DecapCMS does not give me .json files sadly

Denis•2y ago

Well it should be relatively easy to parse that settings file with a custom parser If the files strictly follow the example formatting, then you can get away with even not using RegEx and relying on Spans and simple string character checks Question is whether you wish to create a generic parser or a concrete one for the Settings and Header, etc. classes you've defined

malkavOP•2y ago

I would like to create a generic parser However, I've noticed that I'll have to parse the file into a string first instead of using File.ReadAllLines() because of the Blazor WASM framework, a Directory or File. are not available, and will result in errors

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✅ Parse .md like .json in C# class