Export Table Data to JSON via Azure Storage SDK

Question

Hi,
I'm looking to export the contents of a table in JSON format and then save that JSON to one or more files.
I see that we can have the table return JSON using: tableClient.DefaultRequestOptions.PayloadFormat = TablePayloadFormat.Json;
I also see how to deserialize the JSON into an array of objects using something like this to get an array of CustomerEntity:
IQueryable<CustomerEntity> query = from customer in table.CreateQuery<CustomerEntity>()
where string.Compare(customer.PartitionKey, "I") >= 0 &&
string.Compare(customer.PartitionKey, "X") <= 0 &&
customer.Rating >= 2
select customer;
CustomerEntity[] customers = query.ToArray();
But what if I don't want the results as CustomerEntity objects, I just want the raw JSON?
The
CloudTable.CreateQuery method requires a type that inherits from ITableEntity...
I guess I could switch from using the Azure Storage SDK client to an HTTP client and query via OData, but I'd prefer a solution within the Azure Storage SDK...
Thanks,
Aron

Answer 1

Thanks Will,
Here is a more complete code snippet. As you can see, I have the payload set to JSON.
const string customersTableName = "Customers";
string connectionString = string.Format("DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;AccountName={0};AccountKey={1}", accountName, accountKey);
CloudStorageAccount storageAccount = CloudStorageAccount.Parse(connectionString);
CloudTableClient tableClient = storageAccount.CreateCloudTableClient();
// Values supported can be AtomPub, Json, JsonFullMetadata or JsonNoMetadata with Json being the default value
tableClient.DefaultRequestOptions.PayloadFormat = TablePayloadFormat.Json;
// Create the Customers table
CloudTable table = tableClient.GetTableReference(customersTableName);
table.CreateIfNotExists();
// Insert a couple of customers into the Customers table
foreach (CustomerEntity customer in CustomerEntity.GetCustomersToInsert())
table.Execute(TableOperation.Insert(customer, echoContent: false));
// The response have a payload format of JSON no metadata and the
// client library will map the properties returned back to the CustomerEntity object
IQueryable<CustomerEntity> query = from customer in table.CreateQuery<CustomerEntity>()
where string.Compare(customer.PartitionKey, "I") >= 0 &&
string.Compare(customer.PartitionKey, "X") <= 0 &&
customer.Rating >= 2
select customer;
CustomerEntity[] customers = query.ToArray();
However, the way the query is set up it automatically casts the results as CustomerEntity. That's the challenge - How to get the JSON payload before it gets cast to CustomerEntity...
Thanks,
Aron