From 0fc2e1fcad9a355f465761bc51c0d5d562da1014 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Steve Lee <slee@microsoft.com>
Date: Fri, 22 May 2026 17:35:19 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] Fix allowing empty string to be passed to resources

---
 dsc/tests/dsc_expressions.tests.ps1 | 14 ++++++++++++++
 lib/dsc-lib/src/parser/mod.rs       |  3 ++-
 2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/dsc/tests/dsc_expressions.tests.ps1 b/dsc/tests/dsc_expressions.tests.ps1
index 6086346cb..b618663ac 100644
--- a/dsc/tests/dsc_expressions.tests.ps1
+++ b/dsc/tests/dsc_expressions.tests.ps1
@@ -505,4 +505,18 @@ resources:
       $out.results[0].name | Should -Be 'SERVICE-api'
     }
   }
+
+  It 'Expression that cannot be parsed is treated as string literal' {
+    $yaml = @'
+$schema: https://aka.ms/dsc/schemas/v3/bundled/config/document.json
+resources:
+- name: test
+  type: Microsoft.DSC.Debug/Echo
+  properties:
+    output: ''
+'@
+    $out = dsc config get -i $yaml 2>$TestDrive/error.log | ConvertFrom-Json
+    $LASTEXITCODE | Should -Be 0 -Because (Get-Content $TestDrive/error.log -Raw | Out-String)
+    $out.results[0].result.actualState.output | Should -BeNullOrEmpty
+  }
 }
diff --git a/lib/dsc-lib/src/parser/mod.rs b/lib/dsc-lib/src/parser/mod.rs
index db6553b41..cf572b1ea 100644
--- a/lib/dsc-lib/src/parser/mod.rs
+++ b/lib/dsc-lib/src/parser/mod.rs
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ impl Statement {
         };
         let root_node = tree.root_node();
         if root_node.is_error() {
-            return Err(DscError::Parser(t!("parser.failedToParseRoot", statement = statement).to_string()));
+            // if root node is error, treat as string literal
+            return Ok(Value::String(statement.to_string()));
         }
         if root_node.kind() != "statement" {
             return Err(DscError::Parser(t!("parser.invalidStatement", statement = statement).to_string()));

From d2b1bf9fc1c8b46cc109021a80d0486e0941008d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Steve Lee <slee@microsoft.com>
Date: Fri, 22 May 2026 17:45:07 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] add test for just whitespace

---
 dsc/tests/dsc_expressions.tests.ps1 | 16 ++++++++++------
 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/dsc/tests/dsc_expressions.tests.ps1 b/dsc/tests/dsc_expressions.tests.ps1
index b618663ac..51d1d417c 100644
--- a/dsc/tests/dsc_expressions.tests.ps1
+++ b/dsc/tests/dsc_expressions.tests.ps1
@@ -506,17 +506,21 @@ resources:
     }
   }
 
-  It 'Expression that cannot be parsed is treated as string literal' {
-    $yaml = @'
-$schema: https://aka.ms/dsc/schemas/v3/bundled/config/document.json
+  It "Expression that cannot be parsed is treated as string literal: '<expression>'" -TestCases @(
+    @{ expression = '' }
+    @{ expression = ' ' }
+  ) {
+    param($expression)
+    $yaml = @"
+`$schema: https://aka.ms/dsc/schemas/v3/bundled/config/document.json
 resources:
 - name: test
   type: Microsoft.DSC.Debug/Echo
   properties:
-    output: ''
-'@
+    output: '$expression'
+"@
     $out = dsc config get -i $yaml 2>$TestDrive/error.log | ConvertFrom-Json
     $LASTEXITCODE | Should -Be 0 -Because (Get-Content $TestDrive/error.log -Raw | Out-String)
-    $out.results[0].result.actualState.output | Should -BeNullOrEmpty
+    $out.results[0].result.actualState.output | Should -BeExactly $expression
   }
 }

From b3bc7be49b206952d4c5587d3680f2c50421c7eb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Steve Lee <slee@microsoft.com>
Date: Fri, 22 May 2026 18:20:31 -0700
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] change fix

---
 lib/dsc-lib/src/parser/mod.rs | 8 ++++++--
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/lib/dsc-lib/src/parser/mod.rs b/lib/dsc-lib/src/parser/mod.rs
index cf572b1ea..d6d1713ca 100644
--- a/lib/dsc-lib/src/parser/mod.rs
+++ b/lib/dsc-lib/src/parser/mod.rs
@@ -51,13 +51,17 @@ impl Statement {
             return Ok(Value::String(statement.to_string()));
         }
 
+        // if statement is empty or just whitespace, return as string without parsing
+        if statement.trim().is_empty() {
+            return Ok(Value::String(statement.to_string()));
+        }
+
         let Some(tree) = &mut self.parser.parse(statement, None) else {
             return Err(DscError::Parser(t!("parser.failedToParse", statement = statement).to_string()));
         };
         let root_node = tree.root_node();
         if root_node.is_error() {
-            // if root node is error, treat as string literal
-            return Ok(Value::String(statement.to_string()));
+            return Err(DscError::Parser(t!("parser.failedToParseRoot", statement = statement).to_string()));
         }
         if root_node.kind() != "statement" {
             return Err(DscError::Parser(t!("parser.invalidStatement", statement = statement).to_string()));