[FIXED] How can I go about parsing this .txt file into a .Json file?

Issue

I've spent all day trying to figure this out, any help would be great! This is the text I want to parse into Json:

============ Get Mouse Position  ===============
    Get Mouse Position
    GetMousePos
    Get the mouse position first
        Command one
        Command two
        Command three
============ Set Mouse Position  ===============
    Set Mouse Position
    SetMousePos
    Set the mouse position after
        Command one
        Command two
        Command three

The Json output I am aiming for is:

{

  "Get Mouse Position": {

    "Trigger": "GetMousePos",

    "Description": "Get the mouse position first",

    "body": [

      "Command one",

      "Command two",

      "Command three"

    ]

  },

  "Set Mouse Position": {

    "Trigger": "SetMousePos",

    "Description": "Set the mouse position after",

    "body": [

      "Command one",

      "Command two",

      "Command three"

    ]

  },

}

I've been doing allot of reading and experimenting but I just cant seem to figure it out. the ConvertFrom-StringData command gets me mostly there but it does not seem to support arrays for a single key (for command one, two, three section).

I tried to experimenting with PSCustomObject and ConvertTo-Json like below and it gives me perfect Json output but I cant wrap my head around how to properly code my data into the example below for every potential ===== [Object] ==== section there could be.

$myObject = [PSCustomObject]@{

    'Get Mouse Position' = [ordered]@{

        Trigger = 'GetMousePos'

        Description = 'Get the mouse position first'

            body = @(

            'Command one'

            'Command two'

            'Command three'

            )

        }

  

        'Set  Mouse Position' = [ordered]@{

            Trigger = 'Set MousePos'

            Description = 'Set  the mouse position last'

                body = @(

                'Command one'

                'Command two'

                'Command three'

                )

            }

}

I would really like to know some potential ways I can approach this, that would be so wonderful. Also, a related question. Does the ConvertFrom-StringData command not support multiple values/arrays for a single key? Thanks allot

PS: I have taken the liberty to also ask this question in other communities.

Solution

# Initialize an ordered hashtable.
$oht = [ordered] @{}

# Split the input file into blocks of lines, not including the header
# (separator) lines.
(Get-Content -Raw file.txt) -split '(?m)^===.*\r?\n' -ne '' | ForEach-Object {
  # Parse the block of lines into individual lines
  $name, $trigger, $description, $body = $_ -replace '\r?\n\z' -split '\r?\n'
  # Add an entry to the ordered hashtable.
  $oht[$name.Trim()] = [ordered] @{
      Trigger = $trigger.Trim()
      Description = $description.Trim()
      body = $body.Trim()
    }
  }

# Convert the resulting ordered hashtable to JSON
$oht | ConvertTo-Json

Note: The above uses a nested [ordered] hashtable instead of a nested [pscustomobject], as that is sufficient for to-JSON conversion and makes iterative construction easier (while also being more light-weight).
If a nested [pscustomobject] instance is desired, replace [ordered] inside the ForEach-Object script block with [pscustomobject] for the nested instance, and then use [pscustomobject] $oht to construct the outer instance.

See also:

• -split, the regular-expression-based string-splitting operator

• -replace, the regular-expression-based string-replacement operator

• multi-assignments

Answered By - mklement0

Answer Checked By - Willingham (PHPFixing Volunteer)