Getting error when adding nested hashtable to array in Powershell - powershell

Question

I have a nested hashtable with an array and I want to loop through the contents of another array and add that to the nested hashtable. I'm trying to build a Slack message block.
Here's the nested hashtable I want to add to:
$msgdata = #{
blocks = #(
#{
type = 'section'
text = #{
type = 'mrkdwn'
text = '*Services Being Used This Month*'
}
}
#{
type = 'divider'
}
)
}
$rows = [ ['azure vm', 'centralus'], ['azure sql', 'eastus'], ['azure functions', 'centralus'], ['azure monitor', 'eastus2'] ]
$serviceitems = #()
foreach ($r in $rows) {
$servicetext = "*{0}* - {1}" -f $r[1], $r[0]
$serviceitems += #{'type'='section'}
$serviceitems += #{'text'= ''}
$serviceitems.text.Add('type'='mrkdwn')
$serviceitems.text.Add('text'=$servicetext)
$serviceitems += #{'type'='divider'}
}
$msgdata.blocks += $serviceitems
The code is partially working. The hashtables #{'type'='section'} and #{'type'='divider'} get added successfully. Trying to add the nested hashtable of #{'text' = #{ 'type'='mrkdwn' 'text'=$servicetext }} fails with this error:
Line |
24 | $serviceitems.text.Add('type'='mrkdwn')
| ~
| Missing ')' in method call.
I tried looking through various Powershell posts and couldn't find one that applies to my specific situation. I'm brand new to using hashtables in Powershell.

Answer 1

Complementing mklement0's helpful answer, which solves the problem with your existing code, I suggest the following refactoring, using inline hashtables:
$serviceitems = foreach ($r in $rows) {
#{
type = 'section'
text = #{
type = 'mrkdwn'
text = "*{0}* - {1}" -f $r[1], $r[0]
}
}
#{
type = 'divider'
}
}
$msgdata.blocks += $serviceitems
This looks much cleaner and thus easier to maintain in my opinion.
Explanations:
$serviceitems = foreach ... captures all output (to the success stream) of the foreach loop in variable $serviceitems. PowerShell automatically creates an array from the output, which is more efficient than manually adding to an array using the += operator. Using += PowerShell has to recreate an array of the new size for each addition, because arrays are actually of fixed size. When PowerShell automatically creates an array, it uses a more efficient data structure internally.
By writing out an inline hash table, without assigning it to a variable, PowerShell implicitly outputs the data, in effect adding it to the $serviceitems array.
We output two hash tables per loop iteration, so PowerShells adds two array elements to $serviceitems per loop iteration.

Answer 2

Note:
This answer addresses your question as asked, specifically its syntax problems.
For a superior solution that bypasses the original problems in favor of streamlined code, see zett42's helpful answer.
$serviceitems.text.Add('type'='mrkdwn') causes a syntax error.
Generally speaking, IF $serviceitems.text referred to a hashtable (dictionary), you need either:
method syntax with distinct, ,-separated arguments:
$serviceitems.text.Add('type', 'mrkdwn')
or index syntax (which would quietly overwrite an existing entry, if present):
$serviceitems.text['type'] = 'mrkdwn'
PowerShell even lets you access hashtable (dictionary) entries with member-access syntax (dot notation):
$serviceitems.text.type = 'mrkdwn'
In your specific case, additional considerations come into play:
You're accessing a hashtable via an array, instead of directly.
The text entry you're trying to target isn't originally a nested hashtable, so you cannot call .Add() on it; instead, you must assign a new hashtable to it.
Therefore:
# Define an empty array
$serviceItems = #()
# "Extend" the array by adding a hashtable.
# Note: Except with small arrays, growing them with +=
# should be avoided, because a *new* array must be allocated
# every time.
$serviceItems += #{ text = '' }
# Refer to the hashtable via the array's last element (-1),
# and assign a nested hashtable to it.
$serviceItems[-1].text = #{ 'type' = 'mrkdwn' }
# Output the result.
$serviceItems