Convert To-Json

Module:
Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility
Converts an object to a JSON-formatted string.

Syntax 

ConvertTo-Json
         [-InputObject] <Object>
         [-Depth <Int32>]
         [-Compress]
         [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The ConvertTo-Json cmdlet converts any object to a string in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format. The properties are converted to field names, the field values are converted to property values, and the methods are removed.

You can then use the ConvertFrom-Json cmdlet to convert a JSON-formatted string to a JSON object, which is easily managed in Windows PowerShell.

Many web sites use JSON instead of XML to serialize data for communication between servers and web-based apps.

This cmdlet was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

Examples

Example 1: Convert a Calendar object to a JSON string 

PS C:\> (Get-UICulture).Calendar | ConvertTo-Json

{

    "MinSupportedDateTime":  "\/Date(-62135568000000)\/",

    "MaxSupportedDateTime":  "\/Date(253402300799999)\/",

    "AlgorithmType":  1,

    "CalendarType":  1,

    "Eras":  [

                 1

             ],

    "TwoDigitYearMax":  2029,

    "IsReadOnly":  false

}

This command uses the ConvertTo-Json cmdlet to convert a GregorianCalendar object to a JSON-formatted string.

Example 2: Compress the JSON output 

PS C:\> @{Account="User01";Domain="Domain01";Admin="True"} | ConvertTo-Json -Compress

{"Admin":"True","Account":"User01","Domain":"Domain01"}

This command shows the effect of using the Compress parameter of ConvertTo-Json . The compression affects only the appearance of the string, not its validity.

Example 3: Convert an object to a JSON string and JSON object 

PS C:\> Get-Date | Select-Object -Property * | ConvertTo-Json

{



    "DisplayHint":  2,

    "DateTime":  "Friday, January 13, 2012 8:06:16 PM",

    "Date":  "\/Date(1326441600000)\/",

    "Day":  13,

    "DayOfWeek":  5,

    "DayOfYear":  13,

    "Hour":  20,

    "Kind":  2,

    "Millisecond":  221,

    "Minute":  6,

    "Month":  1,

    "Second":  16,

    "Ticks":  634620819762218083,

    "TimeOfDay":  {

                      "Ticks":  723762218083,

                      "Days":  0,

                      "Hours":  20,

                      "Milliseconds":  221,

                      "Minutes":  6,

                      "Seconds":  16,

                      "TotalDays":  0.83768775241087956,

                      "TotalHours":  20.104506057861109,

                      "TotalMilliseconds":  72376221.8083,

                      "TotalMinutes":  1206.2703634716668,

                      "TotalSeconds":  72376.22180829999

                  },

    "Year":  2012

} 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 shows how to use the ConvertTo-Json and ConvertFrom-Json cmdlets to convert an object to a JSON string and a JSON object.

The first command uses the ConvertTo-Json cmdlet to convert a System.DateTime object from the Get-Date cmdlet to a JSON-formatted string. The command uses the Select-Object cmdlet to get all ( ) of the properties of the **DateTime * object. The output shows the JSON string that ConvertTo-Json returned.

The second command uses ConvertFrom-Json to convert the JSON string to a JSON object.

Example 4: Convert a PowerShell Help file to JSON format 

PS C:\> $JsonSecurityHelp = Get-Content $Pshome\Modules\Microsoft.PowerShell.Security\en-US\Microsoft.PowerShell.Security.dll-Help.xml | ConvertTo-Json

This command uses the ConvertTo-Json cmdlet to convert a Windows PowerShell Help file from XML format to JSON format. You can use a command like this to use the Help topic content in a web service application.

Required Parameters

-InputObject

Specifies the objects to convert to JSON format. Enter a variable that contains the objects, or type a command or expression that gets the objects. You can also pipe an object to ConvertTo-Json .

The InputObject parameter is required, but its value can be null ($Null) or an empty string. When the input object is $Null, ConvertTo-Json does not generate any output. When the input object is an empty string, ConvertTo-Json returns an empty string.

Type: Object
Position: 1
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: True (ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters: False

Optional Parameters

-Compress

Omits white space and indented formatting in the output string.

Type: SwitchParameter
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False
-Depth

Specifies how many levels of contained objects are included in the JSON representation. The default value is 2.

Type: Int32
Position: Named
Default value: 2
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

Inputs

System.Object

You can pipe any object to ConvertTo-Json .

Outputs

System.String

Notes