PowerShell "foreach-object -Parallel" get variable value out of the loop - powershell

Question

how to get variable value set in a "Foreach-Object -Parallel" loop outside of the "Foreach-Object" function/loop? In my example, the variable limitReached has no value at write-host in the end. I need to use While loop in the script, below is a simplified version of what I am doing.
$retries = 2
$secondsDelay = 2
$a = "house"
1..2 | ForEach-Object -Parallel {
$retryCount = 0
$ready = $false
while ($ready -ne $true)
{
if ($a -eq "hello")
{
Write-Output ("a is equal ""hello"".")
$ready = $true
}
else
{
Write-Output ("a is not equal ""hello"".")
if ($retryCount -ge $using:retries)
{
Write-Output ("a is STILL not equal ""hello"".")
$global:limitReached = $true
Write-Host "Checking - limitReached value is [$limitReached]"
return
}
else
{
Write-Output ("let's give more runs.")`n
Start-Sleep $using:secondsDelay
$retryCount++
}
}
}
}
Write-Host "I need this value - limitReached here is [$global:limitReached]"
The result I expect:
I need this value - limitReached here is [TRUE]
The result I get:

Answer 1

Your way of defining a global variable is not correct.
You should instead write declare it just below $a = "house" as $limitReached = $false
remove the $global: from your code and keep only the variable names, and you should be good to go.
Here is the updated code that gives the output I need this value - limitReached here is [True] as well as the loop outputs.
$retries = 2
$secondsDelay = 2
$a = "house"
$limitReached = $false
1..2 | ForEach-Object {
$retryCount = 0
$ready = $false
while ($ready -ne $true)
{
if ($a -eq "hello")
{
Write-Output ("a is equal ""hello"".")
$ready = $true
}
else
{
Write-Output ("a is not equal ""hello"".")
if ($retryCount -ge $retries)
{
Write-Output ("a is STILL not equal ""hello"".")
$limitReached = $true
Write-Host "Checking - limitReached value is [$limitReached]"
return
}
else
{
Write-Output ("let's give more runs.")`n
Start-Sleep $secondsDelay
$retryCount++
}
}
}
}
Write-Host "I need this value - limitReached here is [$limitReached]"

Answer 2

(In case you do want to run the processes in -Parallel)
As both items (1 and 2) run parallel (and the 2nd thread might be finished first), which $limitReached would you expect to be returned?
Anyways, you might use the [hashtable]::Synchronized(#{}) class but probably easiest is simply using the PowerShell to retrieve the results:
$Result = 1..2 |ForEach-Object -Parallel {
for ($i = 1; $i -le 4 - $_; $i++) {
Write-Host "Time: $(Get-Date -Format 'HH:mm:ss'), Id: $_, Count: $i"
Sleep -Seconds $i
}
#{
ID = $_
Count = $i
limitReached = $_ -eq 1
}
}
Time: 14:57:17, Id: 1, Count: 1
Time: 14:57:17, Id: 2, Count: 1
Time: 14:57:18, Id: 2, Count: 2
Time: 14:57:18, Id: 1, Count: 2
Time: 14:57:20, Id: 1, Count: 3
$Result |ConvertTo-Json
[
{
"Count": 3,
"ID": 2,
"limitReached": false
},
{
"Count": 4,
"ID": 1,
"limitReached": true
}
]