Selecting from objects within objects - powershell

Question

I have an array of information in Powershell that is comprised of objects within objects. It goes down 4 objects deep. Is there a way to select a property from the bottom most object while remaining at the top level? Does this make sense what I am asking?
$result
active : active
security : #{waf=; acls=}
sealloaction :
siteDualFactorSettings : #{enabled=False; version=0}
login_protect : #{enabled=False; url_patterns=System.Object[]}
performance_configuration : #{advanced_caching_rules=; acceleration_level=standard; cache300x=False; cache_headers=System.Object[]}
$result.security
waf acls
--- ----
#{rules=System.Object[]} #{rules=System.Object[]}
$result.security.waf
rules
-----
{#{action=api.threats.action.block_request; action_text=Block; id=api.threats.sql_injection; name=SQL Injection}, #{action=api.threats.action.alert; action_text=Alert Only;}

Answer 1

To produce a mixed main/nested level selection:
foreach on the main array
select of the nested stuff + calculated properties to reference the iterated main array element
$results | ForEach {
$r = $_
$r.security.waf.rules | select *, #{N='domain'; E={$r.domain}}
}
Or as a one-liner:
$results | %{ $r = $_; $r.security.waf.rules | select *, #{N='domain'; E={$r.domain}} }

Answer 2

$myArray | where { $_.x.y.z -eq 'something' }
which is functionally equivalent to
foreach ($object in $myArray)
{
if ($object.x.y.z -eq 'something')
{
$object # Writes $object to the output stream
}
}

Answer 3

The easier way should be with $result | select ${L='label';E={$_.security.waf}} then you drill down to where you want.
For example:
$obj1_child = New-Object -TypeName psobject
$obj1_child | add-member -Name obj1_child -MemberType NoteProperty -Value "obj1_child"
$obj1_child | add-member -Name value1 -MemberType NoteProperty -Value "child_value1"
$obj1 = New-Object -TypeName psobject
$obj1 | add-member -Name obj1 -MemberType NoteProperty -Value "obj1"
$obj1 | add-member -Name child -MemberType NoteProperty -Value $obj1_child
$obj2 = New-Object -TypeName psobject
$obj2 | add-member -Name value1 -MemberType NoteProperty -Value "value1"
$parentObj = New-Object -TypeName psobject
$parentObj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -name string -value "parentObject"
$parentObj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -name OBJ1 -value $obj1
$parentObj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -name OBJ2 -value $obj2
$parentObj | select string,obj2, #{L='value of obj1 child';E={$_.obj1.child.value1}}
I create a $parentObj inside there's a string, and two objects ($obj1,$obj2), and inside $obj1 there's another object ($obj1_child). Now I want the string from $parentObj and the last string from $obj1_child this should work:
$parentObj | select string, #{L='value of obj1 child';E={$_.obj1.child.value1}}
Output:
>> $parentObj | select string, #{L='value of obj1 child';E={$_.obj1.child.value1}}
string value of obj1 child
------ -------------------
parentObject child_value1
Not sure if it's what you want. but it was what I was looking for when landed here, so may help someone else.
Reference:
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/scripting/access-objects-inside-other-objects-in-powershell-pipeline/

Answer 4

Two ways to do the same thing
$x = [PSCustomObject]#{
active = 'active';
security = [PSCustomObject]#{
waf = [PSCustomObject]#{
rules = #(
[PSCustomObject]#{
action='api.threats.action.block_request';
action_text='Block';
id='api.threats.sql_injection';
name='SQL Injection'},
[PSCustomObject]#{
action='api.threats.action.alert';
action_text='Alert Only';}
)
}
acls = [PSCustomObject]#{
rules = #(
[PSCustomObject]#{
action='api.threats.action.block_request';
action_text='Block';
id='api.threats.sql_injection';
name='SQL Injection'},
[PSCustomObject]#{
action='api.threats.action.alert';
action_text='Alert Only';}
)
}
}
}
$x.security.waf.rules | select *, #{name='domain'; ex={'foo'}}
$x | select -ExpandProperty security | select -ExpandProperty waf | select -ExpandProperty rules | select *, #{name='domain'; ex={'foo'}}