From b6172c389bcb387b09e39f8016f6984147c2d24b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jordan Borean <jborean93@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2024 05:08:45 +1000
Subject: [PATCH] win_powershell - fix empty array result value (#711)

Fix to ensure `$Ansible.Result = @()` is returned as an empty array and
not null. This was a regression on a previous fix and this change goes
back to the original behaviour.
---
 .../fragments/win_powershell-result-array.yml       |  4 ++++
 plugins/modules/win_powershell.ps1                  |  2 +-
 .../targets/win_powershell/tasks/tests.yml          | 13 +++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 18 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 changelogs/fragments/win_powershell-result-array.yml

diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/win_powershell-result-array.yml b/changelogs/fragments/win_powershell-result-array.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1cf52286
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/win_powershell-result-array.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - >-
+    win_powershell - Ensure ``$Ansible.Result = @()`` as an empty array is returned as an empty list and not null
+    - https://github.com/ansible-collections/ansible.windows/issues/686
diff --git a/plugins/modules/win_powershell.ps1 b/plugins/modules/win_powershell.ps1
index 9ce46908..a4d3028b 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/win_powershell.ps1
+++ b/plugins/modules/win_powershell.ps1
@@ -801,7 +801,7 @@ $OutputEncoding = [Console]::InputEncoding = [Console]::OutputEncoding = $utf8No
     # https://github.com/ansible-collections/ansible.windows/issues/642
     $resultPipeline = [PowerShell]::Create()
     $resultPipeline.Runspace = $runspace
-    $result = $resultPipeline.AddScript('$Ansible').Invoke()
+    $result = $resultPipeline.AddScript('$Ansible').Invoke()[0]
 }
 finally {
     if (-not $processId) {
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/win_powershell/tasks/tests.yml b/tests/integration/targets/win_powershell/tasks/tests.yml
index fa68f9c5..81af6f69 100644
--- a/tests/integration/targets/win_powershell/tasks/tests.yml
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/win_powershell/tasks/tests.yml
@@ -268,6 +268,19 @@
     - result_ansible.output == []
     - result_ansible.result == ['1970-01-01T00:00:00.0000000Z', 'string']
 
+- name: set empty array as Ansible.Result
+  win_powershell:
+    executable: '{{ pwsh_executable | default(omit) }}'
+    script: $Ansible.Result = @()
+  register: result_ansible
+
+- name: assert set empty array as Ansible.Result
+  assert:
+    that:
+    - result_ansible is changed
+    - result_ansible.output == []
+    - result_ansible.result == []
+
 - name: get temporary directory
   win_powershell:
     executable: '{{ pwsh_executable | default(omit) }}'