Deserialization converts JsonString to Object

[snerte]

Reproduction steps

I am experiencing this issue while calling an Invoke-ActivityFunction from an orchestration function. I have taken control over serialization and deserialization.

Orchestrator:

    $jsonInput = [PSCustomObject]@{
        Result = $_
        (...)
    } | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 5

    Write-Host "Calling ActivityFunction with: $($jsonInput)"

    [PSCustomObject]@{
        Result = $_
        Task   = Invoke-ActivityFunction -FunctionName 'ActivityFunction' -Input $jsonInput -NoWait
    }

Output from Write-Host in Orchestrator:

INFORMATION: Calling ActivityFunction with: { (...) some long JSON string }

So I know my deserialization works.

ActivityFunction:

param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory)]
    [string]
    $InputData)

Write-Host "ActivityFunction: Got JSON input $InputData"

$InputData = $InputData | ConvertFrom-Json

Current behaviour

My Write-Host in ActivityFunction outputs: INFORMATION: SaveCustomerEnvironmentCheckResult: Got JSON input System.Collections.Hashtable.

From the serialization I get this exception, which makes sense if the value is not valid JSON:

EXCEPTION: Conversion from JSON failed with error: Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: S. Path '', line 0, position 0. Exception : Type : System.ArgumentException Message : Conversion from JSON failed with error: Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: S. Path '', line 0, position 0. TargetSite : Name : ConvertFromJson DeclaringType : Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.JsonObject MemberType : Method Module : Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility.dll StackTrace : at Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.JsonObject.ConvertFromJson(String input, Boolean returnHashtable, Nullable`1 maxDepth, ErrorRecord& error) at Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ConvertFromJsonCommand.ConvertFromJsonHelper(String input) at Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ConvertFromJsonCommand.EndProcessing() at System.Management.Automation.Cmdlet.DoEndProcessing() at System.Management.Automation.CommandProcessorBase.Complete() InnerException : Type : Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReaderException TargetSite : Name : ParseValue DeclaringType : Newtonsoft.Json.JsonTextReader MemberType : Method Module : Newtonsoft.Json.dll StackTrace : at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonTextReader.ParseValue() at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonTextReader.Read() at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReader.ReadForType(JsonContract contract, Boolean hasConverter) at Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization.JsonSerializerInternalReader.Deserialize(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, Boolean checkAdditionalContent) at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer.DeserializeInternal(JsonReader reader, Type objectType) at Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(String value, Type type, JsonSerializerSettings settings) at Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.JsonObject.ConvertFromJson(String input, Boolean returnHashtable, Nullable`1 maxDepth, ErrorRecord& error) Message : Unexpected character encountered while parsing value: S. Path '', line 0, position 0. Source : Newtonsoft.Json HResult : -2146233088 Source : Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility HResult : -2147024809 CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [ConvertFrom-Json], ArgumentException FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.ArgumentException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ConvertFromJsonCommand InvocationInfo : MyCommand : ConvertFrom-Json ScriptLineNumber : 13 OffsetInLine : 27 HistoryId : 1 ScriptName : C:\home\site\wwwroot\SaveCustomerEnvironmentCheckResult\run.ps1 Line : $InputData = $InputData | ConvertFrom-Json PositionMessage : At C:\home\site\wwwroot\SaveCustomerEnvironmentCheckResult\run.ps1:13 char:27 + $InputData = $InputData | ConvertFrom-Json + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PSScriptRoot : C:\home\site\wwwroot\SaveCustomerEnvironmentCheckResult PSCommandPath : C:\home\site\wwwroot\SaveCustomerEnvironmentCheckResult\run.ps1 InvocationName : ConvertFrom-Json CommandOrigin : Internal ScriptStackTrace : at <ScriptBlock>, C:\home\site\wwwroot\SaveCustomerEnvironmentCheckResult\run.ps1: line 13 PipelineIterationInfo :

Expected behaviour

My Write-Host in ActivityFunction outputs: INFORMATION: SaveCustomerEnvironmentCheckResult: Got JSON input { (...) some long JSON string }.

Originally posted by @snerte in Azure/azure-functions-durable-extension#1922 (comment)

[cgillum]

@davidmrdavid or @AnatoliB would either of you be able to move this to the appropriate PowerShell repository and triage accordingly?

[davidmrdavid]

Thanks @cgillum. As I've noted in another thread - this is a known problem in the Durable Functions for PowerShell SDK, but unfortunately we can't fix it without introducing a breaking change. I have fixed this in the code for our next major release, which we're currently preparing. I can't give an exact estimate for when this will be out, but if everything goes well it shouldn't be more than a handful of months.

[AnatoliB]

@snerte Could you please post the content of your $jsonInput, so that we can reproduce the issue? Thank you.

[ghost]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 4 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.