Powershell How to extract hashtable value from nested hashtable

Question

I've made an API request to the ManageEngine tech support database which returns a JSON response which is returned as a custom object of three hash tables: $result.response_status, $result.list_info, and $result.requests The third of these contains the data I'm looking for.

$results.requests.id an integer

$results.requests.subject a string

$results.requester a hashtable.

The requester hash table is @requester{name= 'Martin Zimmerman'; email='[email protected]'}

What I'd like to be able to do is:

$results.requests | select id, subject, requester.name

to get a single line displaying the id, subject and requester's name

id   subject         name
--   --------------  --------------
3329 Can't open file Martin Zimmerman

However, I cannot figure out the nomenclature to extract the value of the name key in the requester hash table.

If you've parsed JSON via ConvertFrom-Json, note that what you get are (potentially nested) [pscustomobject] instances, not hashtables. Stringified [pscustomobject] instances look somewhat like hashtable literals, which can cause confusion - see this answer. — mklement0
– mklement0, Commented May 29, 2020 at 19:26

Ash · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-29 19:23:56Z

2

I think this is what you want. You need to build a Calculated Property (Example 10).

$results.requests | Select-Object id,subject,@{l='name';e={$_.requester['name']}}

This approach allows you to call the name key from the hashtable.

EDIT

If your requester item is a PSCustomObject, then try this.

$results.requests | Select-Object id,subject,@{l='name';e={$_.requester.name}}

Test with similar object structure.

$results = New-Object psobject
$requests = New-Object psobject
$requests | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name id -Value 2
$requests | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name subject -Value "lol"
$hash = @{}
$hash.Add("email","[email protected]")
$hash.Add("name","Martin Zimmerman")
$requests | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name requester -Value $hash
$results | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name requests -Value $requests
$results.requests | select id,subject,@{l='name';e={$_.requester['name']}}

id subject name
-- ------- ----
 2 lol     Martin Zimmerman

edited May 29, 2020 at 19:23

answered May 29, 2020 at 18:46

Ash

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4 Comments

user2901305 Over a year ago

Hm....tried that but it came back with nothing for the name. I don't know if it makes any difference, but if I do a Get-Member on the $results.requester, it says: requester NoteProperty System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject requester=@{[email protected]; name= Martin Zimmerman}

Ash Over a year ago

If I have understood your data structure properly, my answer works and the test is only added to prove it. If under $results.requests you have a property called requester that contains a hashtable with a key called name, you just need to use the one line answer I have posted. If your data structure is different, then you need to update your question by showing what you see in the console if you print $results.requests. It sounds that you haven't actually got a hashtable...

mklement0 Over a year ago

Try $_.requester.Name instead, which is required to access a [pscustomobject] instance's property (the syntax also works with hashtables); what you, @user2901305, saw may have looked like a hashtable to you, but it's merely how [pscustomobject] instances stringify.

user2901305 Over a year ago

Ash... Many thanks for your replies, indeed the first one-liner worked correctly with the calculated property, after I started over again. $results.requests | Select-Object id,subject,@{l='name';e={$_.requester.name}} I think my problem may have been either: I ended up storing the output from the API call as a string, or, I was referencing a different variable. In short....it was a really dumb mistake on my part. Of interest is the whole notion of a calculated property...something I hadn't run across before. Many thanks for your help!

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