"Invalid array passed" when parsing JSON

I have this file which I want to read with PowerShell:

var myMap =
[
{
"name": "JSON Example",
"attr": "Another attribute"
}
]


My PowerShell v3 Code:

$str = Get-Content $file | Select -Skip 1;
$str | ConvertFrom-Json;
But I'm always getting this error:

ConvertFrom-Json : Invalid array passed in, ']' expected. (1): [
At S:\ome\Path\script.ps1:60 char:8
+ $str | ConvertFrom-Json;
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [ConvertFrom-Json], ArgumentException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.ArgumentException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ConvertFromJsonCommand

If I copy and paste the JSON code manually into the code, everything is working fine:

'[
{
"name": "JSON Example",
"attr": "Another attribute"
}
]' | ConvertFrom-Json;

Try to pipe to `Out-String` before piping to `ConvertFrom-Json`:

Get-Content $file | Select -Skip 1 | Out-String | ConvertFrom-Json


In your working example the JSON code is a string while the non-working example returns a collection of lines. Piping to `Out-String` converts the collection to a single string, which is what the InputObject parameter accept.

Alternatively you can use `Get-Content -Raw` which will retrieve the JSON as a single string.

See this post for more info:

[To see links please register here]

another answer that also works: use `GC -raw <FILE>` which will pass in as string

The `var myMap =` isn't json, it's javascript. Delete the first line and it will be fine.

EDIT:

Oh, you are skipping the first line. It may be that there's a carriage return missing in the last line of the file, and Powershell 3 is more sensitive to it. It works fine in Powershell 5.1 even without a carriage return at the end.