functions/_Set-VariableFromEnvVar.ps1
# <copyright file="Set-VariableFromEnvVar.ps1" company="Endjin Limited"> # Copyright (c) Endjin Limited. All rights reserved. # </copyright> <# .SYNOPSIS Updates the value of a variable based on the value of an environment variable. .DESCRIPTION Supports updating typed PowerShell variables using the string value from an environment variable. The PowerShell variable must already be defined for this function to udpate its value. Specific support is included for casting 'boolean' and 'hashtable' types, other types rely on the underlying casting support in PowerShell (e.g. integers). Hashtable variables can be overridden via an environment variable containing a JSON object definition. .EXAMPLE PS C:\> $MyVar = 1 PS C:\> $MyVar.GetType() IsPublic IsSerial Name BaseType -------- -------- ---- -------- True True Int32 System.ValueType PS C:\> $env:SomeEnvVar = "50" PS C:\> $($env:SomeEnvVar).GetType() IsPublic IsSerial Name BaseType -------- -------- ---- -------- True True String System.Object PS C:\> Set-VariableFromEnvVar -VariableName "MyVar" -EnvironmentVariableName "SomeEnvVar" True PS C:\> Write-Host $MyVar 50 PS C:\> $MyVar.GetType() IsPublic IsSerial Name BaseType -------- -------- ---- -------- True True Int32 System.ValueType .EXAMPLE PS C:\> $MyDictionary = @{ foo=1; bar="foobar" } PS C:\> $MyDictionary.GetType() IsPublic IsSerial Name BaseType -------- -------- ---- -------- True True Hashtable System.Object PS C:\> $env:SomeEnvVar = '{"foo": 200, "bar": "only-bar" }' PS C:\> $($env:SomeEnvVar).GetType() IsPublic IsSerial Name BaseType -------- -------- ---- -------- True True String System.Object PS C:\> Set-VariableFromEnvVar -VariableName "MyDictionary" -EnvironmentVariableName "SomeEnvVar" True PS C:\> $MyDictionary | Format-Table Name Value ---- ----- bar only-bar foo 200 PS C:\> $MyDictionary.GetType() IsPublic IsSerial Name BaseType -------- -------- ---- -------- True True Hashtable System.Object .PARAMETER VariableName The name of the PowerShell variable that will be updated. .PARAMETER EnvironmentVariableName The name of the environment variable that holds the new value. .PARAMETER UseGlobalScope When true the variable will be updated in the 'global' scope, otherwise the 'script' scope will be used. Ref: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_scopes .PARAMETER TestMode *** NOTE: Only intended to be used when running Pester tests against this cmdlet. *** When true, information about the updated variables will written to the following environment variables: * _SetVariableFromEnvVarTypeName * _SetVariableFromEnvVarValue This allows the cmdlet's behaviour to be tested via Pester, without mocking. The updated variable values are not available to Pester test fixtures due to the way in which Pester creates isolated scopes for running the tests in. .OUTPUTS Returns $true if the variable was updated, otherwise returns $false #> function Set-VariableFromEnvVar { [CmdletBinding()] [OutputType([bool])] param ( [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $VariableName, [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)] [string] $EnvironmentVariableName, [switch] $UseGlobalScope, [switch] $TestMode ) if ( !(Test-Path variable:/$VariableName) ) { Write-Warning "Unable to override the variable '$VariableName' as it is not currently defined - skipping" return $false } $envVar = Get-Item env:/$EnvironmentVariableName # get the type of the existing value of the variable, defaulting to 'string' if null $existingValue = (Get-Variable -Name $VariableName).Value # strict null checking to avoid false positives with empty arrays $varType = $null -ne $existingValue ? $existingValue.GetType() : "".GetType() # Update the value of the variable, ensuring that the existing type is preserved and # the string value from the environment variable is cast/coerced/converted accordingly. switch ($varType.Name) { "Boolean" { # booleans require special handling, due to '-as' not always behaving as required # e.g. "false" -as [boolean] returns 'True' $varValue = [System.Convert]::ToBoolean($envVar.Value) } ({$_ -in @("Hashtable","Object[]")}) { # support deserializing a JSON string into a hashtable or array try { $varValue = $envVar.Value | ConvertFrom-Json -AsHashtable -Depth 100 } catch { Write-Warning "Unable to process environment variable '$($envVar.Name)' - the value was not valid JSON" return $false } } default { $varValue = $envVar.Value -as $varType } } Write-Verbose "Overriding '$VariableName' from environment variable [Type=$($varType.Name)]" Set-Variable -Scope ($UseGlobalScope ? "global" : "script") -Name $VariableName -Value $varValue # When running in the context of Pester, the variable scoping is such that changes made by this function are not accessible # to the test fixture - this provides a mechanism for testing the value and type-handling behaviour. if ($TestMode) { $env:_SetVariableFromEnvVarTypeName = $varValue.GetType().Name switch ($env:_SetVariableFromEnvVarTypeName) { ({$_ -in @("Hashtable","Object[]")}) { # support serializing hashtables and arrays as a JSON string so we can roudntrip the full type information when the # tests read the value of the string-based environment variable. $env:_SetVariableFromEnvVarValue = $varValue | ConvertTo-Json -Compress -Depth 100 } default { $env:_SetVariableFromEnvVarValue = $varValue } } } return $true } |