Save hash table in PowerShell object notation (PSON)

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After 5 years, the cmdlet I had pasted in the original answer has undergone so many updates that it has become completely outdated. Therefore I have replaced the code and the ReadMe with a link to the latest version.

Besides the support for more object types and better formatting, it now outputs an expression (ScriptBlock), which default display type is still a String and allows for direct invocation using the call operator &:

$Object = &($Object | ConverTo-Expression)

ConvertTo-Expression

The ConvertTo-Expression cmdlet can be download from PowerShell Gallery using the command:

Install-Script -Name ConvertTo-Expression

ReadMe

The full ReadMe (and source code) is available from GitHub:
https://github.com/iRon7/ConvertTo-Expression

Installation

After downloading (Install-Script -Name ConvertTo-Expression), the script can simply be invoked by dot sourcing:

. .\ConvertTo-Expression.ps1

You might also consider to convert the script to a PowerShell module by renaming it to a PowerShell module (.psm1) file and moving it to a one of the module folders defined in $env:PSModulePath. For more details see: How to Write a PowerShell Script Module.

Answer

Below are some possible options to serialize the specific example (assigned to $Craig) in the question:

ConvertTo-Expression $Craig
@{
    parameters =
        @{
            name="parameter 0"
            default = 1
            values =
                1,
                2,
                3,
                4
        },
        @{
            name="parameter 1"
            default="A"
            values="A",
                'B',
                'C'
        }
    name="report 0"
}

To limit the tree view expansion:
(Expand -0 will output a single line and Expand -1 will remove also the unnecessary spaces)

ConvertTo-Expression $Craig -expand 3
@{
    parameters =
        @{name="parameter 0"; default = 1; values = 1, 2, 3, 4},
        @{name="parameter 1"; default="A"; values="A", 'B', 'C'}
    name="report 0"
}

Preserving the explicit types (strong typed):

ConvertTo-Expression $Craig -expand 3 -Strong
[hashtable]@{
    parameters = [array](
        [hashtable]@{name = [string]'parameter 0'; default = [int]1; values = [array]([int]1, [int]2, [int]3, [int]4)},
        [hashtable]@{name = [string]'parameter 1'; default = [string]'A'; values = [array]([string]'A', [string]'B', [string]'C')}
    )
    name = [string]'report 0'
}

(Note: As per PowerShell design, HashTables are not in order, but if required you might use the [Ordered] type instead.)

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