Make ConvertTo-Json detect circular references

[mtman]

The current way to deal with circular references is the Depth parameter. Its default value is too low and increasing it doesn't address a usual use case where the object is deep and doesn't contain any circular reference.

Add a CircularDetection switch parameter.
Once a circular reference is detected, throw an exception. If the switch is not present, cap the object by the depth limit.

---

Currently no exception is thrown when the depth limit is reached. This easily propagates the error and may remain undetected until the collected data is evaluated. One option to consider is to make the detection default. The switch can be changed to -DisableCircularDetection which enables the current behavior. This is a breaking change for some users.

Unaffected groups of users:

• Those who use the Depth parameter.
• Those who use shallow objects falling bellow the depth limit.
• Those who use deep objects without circular references, but are not aware of or affected by the silent error.

Affected groups of users:

• Those who use objects with circular references while the very low depth limit doesn't affect them.

[iSazonov]

Default values is

        private int _depth = 2;
        private const int maxDepthAllowed = 100;

Is maxDepthAllowed value good protection?

[iSazonov]

.Net Core 3.1 and later support this. I hope we will resolve issue after moving to .Net Core 5.0.
For reference #11198.

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

This issue has not had any activity in 6 months, if this is a bug please try to reproduce on the latest version of PowerShell and reopen a new issue and reference this issue if this is still a blocker for you.

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

This issue has not had any activity in 6 months, if this is a bug please try to reproduce on the latest version of PowerShell and reopen a new issue and reference this issue if this is still a blocker for you.

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

This issue has not had any activity in 6 months, if this is a bug please try to reproduce on the latest version of PowerShell and reopen a new issue and reference this issue if this is still a blocker for you.

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

This issue has been marked as "No Activity" as there has been no activity for 6 months. It has been closed for housekeeping purposes.