How to invoke ConvertFrom-String in PowerShell on Linux? - linux

Question

Looking to use ConvertFrom-String on Linux as per the example from the help file:
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PowerShell transcript start
Start time: 20230204142830
Username: mordor\nicholas
RunAs User: mordor\nicholas
Configuration Name:
Machine: mordor (Unix 5.15.0.58)
Host Application: /snap/powershell/229/opt/powershell/pwsh.dll
Process ID: 1193147
PSVersion: 7.3.2
PSEdition: Core
GitCommitId: 7.3.2
OS: Linux 5.15.0-58-generic #64-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 5 11:43:13 UTC 2023
Platform: Unix
PSCompatibleVersions: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1.10032.0, 6.0.0, 6.1.0, 6.2.0, 7.0.0, 7.1.0, 7.2.0, 7.3.2
PSRemotingProtocolVersion: 2.3
SerializationVersion: 1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion: 3.0
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Transcript started, output file is /home/nicholas/powershell/PowerShell_transcript.mordor.ciSjO_A6.20230204142830.txt
PS /home/nicholas/powershell> $template = #'
{Name*:Phoebe Cat}, {phone:[phone]}, {age:6}
{Name*:Lucky Shot}, {phone:[phone]}, {age:12}
'#
PS /home/nicholas/powershell> $testText = #'
Phoebe Cat, 425-123-6789, 6
Lucky Shot, [phone], 12
Elephant Wise, 425-888-7766, 87
Wild Shrimp, [phone], 1
'#
PS /home/nicholas/powershell> $PersonalData = $testText | ConvertFrom-String -TemplateContent $template
ConvertFrom-String: The term 'ConvertFrom-String' is not recognized as a name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or executable program.
Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
ConvertFrom-String: The term 'ConvertFrom-String' is not recognized as a name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or executable program.
Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
PS /home/nicholas/powershell> $PersonalData = $testText | ConvertFrom-StringData -TemplateContent $template
PS /home/nicholas/powershell> TerminatingError(ConvertFrom-StringData): "A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'TemplateContent'."
ConvertFrom-StringData: A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'TemplateContent'.
ConvertFrom-StringData: A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'TemplateContent'.
PS /home/nicholas/powershell> help ConvertFrom-String
PS /home/nicholas/powershell> help ConvertFrom-StringData
PS /home/nicholas/powershell> $PSVersionTable
Name Value
---- -----
PSVersion 7.3.2
PSEdition Core
GitCommitId 7.3.2
OS Linux 5.15.0-58-generic #64-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 5 11:43:13 UTC 2023
Platform Unix
PSCompatibleVersions {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion 2.3
SerializationVersion 1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion 3.0
PS /home/nicholas/powershell> lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
Release: 22.04
Codename: jammy
what throws me off here is that the help file loads fine, which would indicate that the component is installed. Perhaps that's an incorrect understanding.

Answer 1

ConvertFrom-String is available only in Windows PowerShell, the legacy, Windows-only edition of PowerShell - it was never ported to PowerShell (Core), the modern, cross-platform edition.
On Windows only, the cmdlet is technically still available, via the Windows PowerShell compatibility feature (which comes with its own limitations); however, for the reasons stated below, it's best to avoid this cmdlet altogether.
Note: ConvertFrom-String is not to be confused with the ConvertFrom-StringData cmdlet, which is available in PowerShell (Core) as well, on all supported platforms.
However, even in Windows PowerShell / on Windows there are good reasons to avoid use of this cmdlet:
It provides separator-based parsing as well as heuristics-based parsing based on templates containing example values.
The separator-based parsing applies automatic type conversions you cannot control, and the poorly documented template language results in behavior that is inherently hard to predict.