Powershell ConvertFrom-Json output json format not correct

Question

I have a json file, i converted that by using ConvertFrom-json but the output i am getting below.

Get-Content ".\example1.JSON" | ConvertFrom-Json

Output i am getting as below

---------------------------------
Result                                                                                                                                                                               
------                                                                                                                                                                               
{@{_id=5f0bdeec01c99848bcbbba07; index=0; guid=a1c59de9-94c9-4a53-9a18-61a35457b7a2; isActive=False; balance=$3,782.46; picture=http://placehold.it/32x32; age=28; eyeColor=blue; ...

But i want this should be in below format because of "{"Result":" it is not coming in proper format can someone suggest how to overcome ?

_id           : 5f0bdeec01c99848bcbbba07
index         : 0
guid          : a1c59de9-94c9-4a53-9a18-61a35457b7a2
isActive      : False
balance       : $3,782.46
picture       : http://placehold.it/32x32
age           : 28
eyeColor      : blue
name          : Tran Rodriquez
gender        : male
company       : VIRVA
email         : tranrodriquez@virva.com
phone         : +1 (908) 426-2103
address       : 222 Crosby Avenue, Frierson, Louisiana, 613

Here's sample content of the JSON file:

{
  "Result": [
    {
      "id": 10,
      "name": "shirt",
      "color": "red",
      "_id": "5f0bdeec01c99848bcbbba07",
      "host": "tester1"
    },
    {
      "id": 11,
      "name": "coat",
      "color": "black",
      "price": "$2300"
    }
  ]
}

without seeing the JSON, no one can really tell. can you post a sanitized, simplified sample that demos your problem? — Lee_Dailey, Jul 13 '20 at 19:27
{"Result": [ { "id": 10, "name": "shirt", "color": "red", "_id": "5f0bdeec01c99848bcbbba07", "index": 0, "guid": "a1c59de9-94c9-4a53-9a18-61a35457b7a2", "isActive": false, "balance": "$3,782.46", "picture": "http://placehold.it/32x32", "age": 28, "eyeColor": "blue", "name": "Tran Rodriquez", "gender": "male", "company": "VIRVA", "price": "$123", "host" : "tester1" } ] } — satya Narayan mohanty, Jul 13 '20 at 19:39
save the convert output to `$InStuff` and then address the object via `$InStuff.Result` [*grin*] — Lee_Dailey, Jul 13 '20 at 19:48
Please show us the sanitizes JSON file. Use the [edit](https://stackoverflow.com/posts/62882623/edit) link under your question and insert it there as [Formatted](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/22186/how-do-i-format-my-code-blocks/22189#22189) text. NOT in a comment, because that becomes unreadable. — Theo, Jul 13 '20 at 19:49
If you try my answer with your sample JSON, you'll see that it works (verified in WindPS 5.1 and PS Core 7.0). If it truly doesn't, you'll need to provide more information. — mklement0, Jul 14 '20 at 14:24

mklement0 · Answer 1 · 2020-07-14T03:39:23.650

You need to access the .Result property in order to have the (nested) object it contains format properly:

(Get-Content -Raw .\example1.JSON | ConvertFrom-Json).Result

^{Note the use of -Raw, which makes Get-Content read the file as a whole, as a single string - while not strictly necessary, this speeds up processing, given that ConvertFrom-Json needs to collect all input first anyway.}

An object that is nested inside another object as a property value is formatted using a single-line, hash-table literal-like representation, as you've experienced.

A simple example:

PS> [pscustomobject] @{ foo = 1; bar = [pscustomobject] @{ baz = 2 } }

foo bar
--- ---
  1 @{baz=2}

Note the representation of the nested custom object stored in the .bar property.

This hash-table literal-like representation is the stringification of [pscustomobject] instances, as (also) used in expandable strings; e.g., "$([pscustomobject] @{ baz = 2 })" yields '@{baz=2}' - see this answer for details.

Powershell ConvertFrom-Json output json format not correct

1 Answers1