Not able to parse multiline array in powershell

Question

My aws cli returns multiline array with nested hash, I am not able to parse output to get appropriate values from it

>Write-Host $a
[
  [
     [
         {
             "VolumeID": "vol-fxxxxxx"
         }
     ]
   ]
]

If I do $a[0], it returns first line i.e. "[" same with incremental indexs. How I can parse this array and get the volumeID from it ? Thanks

Additional details :

Thanks for your valuable answers. Here is the class name of the above object :

> $a.getType()                                                                                                          
IsPublic IsSerial Name                                     BaseType                                                                                                             
 -------- -------- ----                                     --------                                                                                                             
True     True     Object[]                               System.Array

> $a | Where-Object ($_ -like "*Volume*")

> $a | ConvertFrom-Json
 ConvertFrom-Json : Invalid JSON primitive: 
 Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.FormatEntryData.
 At line:1 char:6


 + $a | ConvertFrom-Json
 +      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [ConvertFrom-Json], ArgumentException
 + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.ArgumentException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ConvertFromJsonCommand

Hi Martin Brandl, TessellatingHeckler I have updated with your question, could you please help me out on the same. Thanks

Could it be that $a is just a multiline string, and $a[0] returns [ because that's the first character? — Mathias R. Jessen
– Mathias R. Jessen, Commented Nov 21, 2016 at 10:48

TessellatingHeckler · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-21 06:27:06Z

2

same with incremental indexs

I can't make sense of incremental indexes doing the same, and returning the first line, but it looks like it's either:

A multiline string ($a.gettype() has Name: String):

$b = $a | ConvertFrom-Json
$b[0][0][0].VolumeID

or, an array of string ($a.gettype() Name is Object[] or String[]), do this first, then convert from JSON:

$a = -join $a

answered Nov 21, 2016 at 6:27

TessellatingHeckler

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1 Comment

Ansgar Wiechers Over a year ago

$b[0].VolumeID seems to suffice, despite the nested arrays.

Tim Haintz · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-21 06:25:56Z

0

You could use the where-object cmdlet.

$a | where-object {$_ -like "*Volume*"}

More information on the where-object cmdlet can be found here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee177028.aspx

Thanks, Tim.

edited Nov 21, 2016 at 6:25

answered Nov 21, 2016 at 6:20

Tim Haintz

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