ConvertFrom-JSON to object - json

Question

It looks like the way I am expecting this to work doesn't. I want multiple objects returned, but it seems to be returning just one. It is beyond me how I do it.
A very simple JSON file:
{
"$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentParameters.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
"storageAccountName": {
"value": "sa01"
},
"virtualNetworkName": {
"value": "nvn01"
}
}
}
I want to dynamically add the parameters and their values into a nice pscustomobject (that would look like the following with the above data):
ParameterName | Value
===========================
storageAccountName | sa01
virtualNetworkName | nvn01
What I don't understand is why the following returns one object:
$TemplateParametersFile = "C:\Temp\deploy-Project-Platform.parameters.json"
$content = Get-Content $TemplateParametersFile -Raw
$JsonParameters = ConvertFrom-Json -InputObject $content
$JsonParameters.parameters | Measure-Object
Whilst writing this, I eventually found a solution that get's what I want, which I'll post in the answer section. Feel free to school me and improve...

Answer 1

I would do things a little differently, skipping the hashtable, and using the hidden PSObject property. So, picking up after you have the JSON data stored in $content, I would do something like this:
#Convert JSON file to an object
$JsonParameters = ConvertFrom-Json -InputObject $content
#Create new PSObject with no properties
$oData = New-Object PSObject
#Loop through properties of the $JsonParameters.parameters object, and add them to the new blank object
$JsonParameters.parameters.psobject.Properties.Name |
ForEach{
Add-Member -InputObject $oData -NotePropertyName $_ -NotePropertyValue $JsonParameters.parameters.$_.Value
}
$oData
By the way, it had issues converting the JSON you posted, I had to add quotes around the two values, such as "value": "sa01".

Answer 2

Using the same JSON file as shown above:
<#
# Read in JSON from file on disk
$TemplateParametersFile = "C:\Temp\deploy-Project-Platform.parameters.json"
$content = Get-Content $TemplateParametersFile -Raw
#>
#Retrieve JSON file from Azure storage account.
$TemplateParametersFile = "https://{storageAccountName}.blob.core.windows.net/{SomeContainer}/deploy-Project-Platform.parameters.json"
$oWc = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$webpage = $oWc.DownloadData($TemplateParametersFile)
$content = [System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetString($webpage)
#Convert JSON file to an object (IMHO- Sort of!)
$JsonParameters = ConvertFrom-Json -InputObject $content
#Build hashtable - easier to add new items - the whole purpose of this script
$oDataHash = #{}
$JsonParameters.parameters | Get-Member -MemberType NoteProperty | ForEach-Object{
$oDataHash += #{
$_.name = $JsonParameters.parameters."$($_.name)" | Select -ExpandProperty Value
}
}
#Example: adding a single item to the hashtable
$oDataHash.Add("VirtualMachineName","aDemoAdd")
#Convert hashtable to pscustomobject
$oData = New-Object -TypeName PSCustomObject
$oData | Add-Member -MemberType ScriptMethod -Name AddNote -Value {
Add-Member -InputObject $this -MemberType NoteProperty -Name $args[0] -Value $args[1]
}
$oDataHash.Keys | Sort-Object | ForEach-Object{
$oData.AddNote($_,$oDataHash.$_)
}
$oData
And the result:
storageAccountName VirtualMachineName virtualNetworkName
------------------ ------------------ ------------------
sa01 aDemoAdd nvn01
Agreed, the question asked for a Parameter / Value pair, and this results in the parameter's name being assigned as the noteproperty, but I think it will be easier to use it this way. Of course, $oDataHash returns it as a Key/value pair.
This script also pulls the JSON file directly from an Azure storage account. No need to save to disk. If you want to save to disk, change $oWc.DownloadData() to $oWc.DownloadFile() . The commented bit at the top, reads from disk.
I am sure there are much more succinct ways to achieve the same result, and I'd love to here them. For me, at the moment this works.