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Cannot resolve variable within JSON file

In the example code below, I'm attempting to set variable varB to the same value as varA.

$strJSONdata = @"
    {
        "variables": {
            "varA": "myVariable",
            "varB": "[variables('varA')]"
        }
    }
"@

$objJSON = $strJSONdata | ConvertFrom-Json
write-host $objJSON.variables.varA
write-host $objJSON.variables.varB

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But when i execute this script, the ouput is:

myVariable
[variables('varA')]

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To be clear, I expected the output to be:

myVariable
myVariable

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What is the correct syntax to refer to the value of another variable within the same JSON file.

By the way, I based my example on this web page:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/building-blocks/extending-templates/objects-as-parameters

footech

Just because Azure may interpret JSON files formatted a specific way for their templates, doesn't mean it has any relation to PowerShell. PowerShell can read JSON, but essentially all you get is properties (and subproperties) and their values. It doesn't try to interpret the values as anything other than strings (at least to my knowledge).

Joost Kuin

ASKER

@Footech: Thank you for your reply. So basically there is no native support in JSON for values to refer to another value within a single file?

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footech

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Joost Kuin

ASKER

although not the answer I was hoping for. At least I can end my search (which was driving me nuts).

@footech: Thanks for your help!