ConvertFrom-Json

JuanPablo Jofre|Last Updated: 12/17/2016

3 Contributors

SYNOPSIS

Converts a JSON-formatted string to a custom object.

SYNTAX

ConvertFrom-Json [-InputObject] <String> [<CommonParameters>]

DESCRIPTION

The ConvertFrom-Json cmdlet converts a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) formatted string to a custom PSCustomObject object that has a property for each field in the JSON string. JSON is commonly used by web sites to provide a textual representation of objects.

To generate a JSON string from any object, use the ConvertTo-Json cmdlet.

This cmdlet was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

EXAMPLES

Example 1: Convert a DateTime object to a JSON object

PS C:\> Get-Date | Select-Object -Property * | ConvertTo-Json | ConvertFrom-Json
DisplayHint : 2
DateTime    : Friday, January 13, 2012 8:06:31 PM
Date        : 1/13/2012 8:00:00 AM
Day         : 13
DayOfWeek   : 5
DayOfYear   : 13
Hour        : 20
Kind        : 2
Millisecond : 400
Minute      : 6
Month       : 1
Second      : 31
Ticks       : 634620819914009002
TimeOfDay   : @{Ticks=723914009002; Days=0; Hours=20; Milliseconds=400; Minutes=6; Seconds=31; TotalDays=0.83786343634490734; TotalHours=20.108722472277776; TotalMilliseconds=72391400.900200009; TotalMinutes=1206.5233483366667;TotalSeconds=72391.4009002}
Year        : 2012

This command uses the ConvertTo-Json and ConvertFrom-Json cmdlets to convert a DateTime object from the Get-Date cmdlet to a JSON object.

The command uses the Select-Object cmdlet to get all of the properties of the DateTime object. It uses the ConvertTo-Json cmdlet to convert the DateTime object to a JSON-formatted string and the ConvertFrom-Json cmdlet to convert the JSON-formatted string to a JSON object..

Example 2: Get JSON strings from a web service and convert them to Windows PowerShell objects

PS C:\> $j = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri http://search.twitter.com/search.json?q=PowerShell | ConvertFrom-Json

This command uses the Invoke-WebRequest cmdlet to get JSON strings from a web service and then it uses the ConvertFrom-Json cmdlet to convert JSON content to objects that can be managed in Windows PowerShell.

You can also use the Invoke-RestMethod cmdlet, which automatically converts JSON content to objects.

Example 3: Convert a JSON string to a custom object

PS C:\> (Get-Content JsonFile.JSON) -join "`n" | ConvertFrom-Json

This example shows how to use the ConvertFrom-Json cmdlet to convert a JSON file to a Windows PowerShell custom object.

The command uses Get-Content cmdlet to get the strings in a JSON file. It uses the Join operator to join the strings in the file into a single string that is delimited by newline characters (`n). Then it uses the pipeline operator to send the delimited string to the ConvertFrom-Json cmdlet, which converts it to a custom object.

The Join operator is required, because the ConvertFrom-Json cmdlet expects a single string.

PARAMETERS

-InputObject

Specifies the JSON strings to convert to JSON objects. Enter a variable that contains the string, or type a command or expression that gets the string. You can also pipe a string to ConvertFrom-Json.

The InputObject parameter is required, but its value can be an empty string. When the input object is an empty string, ConvertFrom-Json does not generate any output. The InputObject value cannot be $Null.

Type: String
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases: 

Required: True
Position: 0
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: True (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters: False

CommonParameters

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutVariable, -OutBuffer, -PipelineVariable, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113216).