Fixes #3379

docs/providers/aws/guide/variables.md

@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ functions:
 ```
 In the above example, the value for `myKey` in the `myBucket` S3 bucket will be looked up and used to populate the variable.
 ## Reference Variables in Other Files
-To reference variables in other YAML or JSON files, use the `${file(./myFile.yml):someProperty}` syntax in your `serverless.yml` configuration file. This functionality is recursive, so you can go as deep in that file as you want. Here's an example:
+You can reference variables in other YAML or JSON files.  To reference variables in other YAML files use the `${file(./myFile.yml):someProperty}` syntax in your `serverless.yml` configuration file. To reference variables in other JSON files use the `${file(./myFile.json):someProperty}` syntax. It is important that the file you are referencing has the correct suffix, or file extension, for its file type (`.yml` for YAML or `.json` for JSON) in order for it to be interpreted correctly. Here's an example:
 
 ```yml
 # myCustomFile.yml
@@ -147,7 +147,41 @@ functions:
         - schedule: ${self:custom.globalSchedule} # This would also work in this case
 ```
 
-In the above example, you're referencing the entire `myCustomFile.yml` file in the `custom` property. You need to pass the path relative to your service directory. You can also request specific properties in that file as shown in the `schedule` property. It's completely recursive and you can go as deep as you want.
+In the above example, you're referencing the entire `myCustomFile.yml` file in the `custom` property. You need to pass the path relative to your service directory. You can also request specific properties in that file as shown in the `schedule` property. It's completely recursive and you can go as deep as you want.  Additionally you can request properties that contain arrays from either YAML or JSON reference files.  Here's a YAML example for an events array:
+
+```yml
+myevents:
+  - schedule:
+     rate: rate(1 minute)
+```
+
+and for JSON:
+```json
+{
+  "myevents": [{
+    "schedule" : {
+      "rate" : "rate(1 minute)"
+    }
+  }]
+}
+```
+
+In your serverless.yml, depending on the type of your source file, either have the following syntax for YAML
+```yml
+functions:
+  hello:
+      handler: handler.hello
+      events: ${file(./myCustomFile.yml):myevents
+```
+
+or for a JSON reference file use this sytax:
+```yml
+functions:
+  hello:
+      handler: handler.hello
+      events: ${file(./myCustomFile.json):myevents
+```
+
 
 ## Reference Variables in Javascript Files