Powershell array issue - powershell

Question

I am experiencing an issue with what should be a very simple task, but for some reason is not working as expected.
I am running this code via the Powershell ISE on a Windows 10 PC with Powershell v5.
GOAL: Create an array of JSON files with the intent of assigning specific values from the JSON data to Powershell variables which will then be fed into an Exchange online function to create thousands of new Office 365 groups.
ISSUE: While values appear to be correctly populating each array, certain variables from the array are being concatenated. See specific errors below.
SAMPLE CODE:
Here is a sample JSON file (note: I am only using a very limited subset of the data in each file):
{
"Alias": "testmigrationlist7",
"DisplayName": "Test Migration List 7",
"IsHiddenFromAddressList": true,
"EmailAddresses": [
{
"Action":"Add",
"Value": "testmigrationlist7#testlab.local",
"AddressPrimary": true,
"AddressProtocol": "SMTP"
}
],
"Members": {
"Recipients": [
{
"Action":"Add",
"Value":"testuser1"
},
{
"Action":"Add",
"Value":"testuser2"
}
]
},
"AcceptMessagesOnlyFrom": {
"All":"restricted",
"Recipients": [
{
"Action":"Remove",
"Value":"testuser1"
},
{
"Action":"Add",
"Value":"testuser2"
}
]
}
}
Get content of all JSON files:
$allObjects = #(Get-ChildItem -path c:\tmp\json\*.json | Get-Content -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
If I then test the above array, it appears to output as expected:
$allObjects.displayname
Test Migration List 7
Test Migration List 8
$allObjects.alias
testmigrationlist7
testmigrationlist8
Now the code that takes the above data and loops through the array:
function import-UnixDL2Group {
New-UnifiedGroup -Alias $allobjects.alias -displayname `
$allobjects.displayname -Owner testowner1 -Members `
$allobjects.members.recipients.value `
-emailaddresses $allobjects.emailaddresses.value
}
foreach($_ in $allObjects.alias){import-UnixDL2Group}
The above outputs the following error and stops:
Cannot bind parameter 'Alias' to the target. Exception setting "Alias": "Property expression "testmigrationlist7 testmigrationlist8" isn't valid....."
Notice how it tries to use both aliases with a space for one alias:
"testmigrationlist7 testmigrationlist8"
The same occurs with DisplayName.
If I test with only 1 JSON file, it works correctly:
$JSONinput = (get-content -path c:\tmp\json\test1.json -raw) | ConvertFrom-Json
function import-UnixDL2GroupTest {
New-UnifiedGroup -Alias $JSONinput.alias -displayname $JSONinput.displayname `
-Owner testowner1 -Members $JSONinput.members.recipients.value `
-emailaddresses $JSONinput.emailaddresses.value
}
$JSONinput | import-UnixDL2GroupTest
I am sure I am overlooking something very simple, but the answer eludes me at the moment. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
UPDATE: I have also tried defining a simple array to take the JSON data out of the picture, but I get the same error, so it must be the foreach loop.
$manualArray = #("testmigrationlist7","testmigrationlist8")
function import-Unix2GroupManual {
New-UnifiedGroup -Alias $manualArray -displayname $manualArray `
-Members testuser1,testuser2
}
foreach($_ in $manualArray){import-Unix2GroupManual}

Answer 1

Your code tries to invoke New-UnifiedGroup with all aliases at once (since you're using the global variable $allobjects inside the function), which doesn't work. Also, $_ is an automatic variable that holds the current object in a pipeline. Overriding automatic variables for your own purposes is generally not recommended, as it tends to lead to ... interesting side effects.
Parametrize your function like this:
function Import-UnixDL2Group {
[CmdletBinding()]
Param(
[Parameter(Position=0, Mandatory=$true, ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
$InputObject,
[Parameter(Position=1, Mandatory=$false)]
[String]$Owner = 'testowner1'
)
Process {
New-UnifiedGroup -Alias $InputObject.alias `
-DisplayName $InputObject.displayname `
-Owner $Owner `
-Members $InputObject.members.recipients.value `
-EmailAddresses $InputObject.emailaddresses.value
}
}
and invoke it like this:
$allObjects | Import-UnixDL2Group
and the problem should disappear.