Export CSV. Folder, subfolder and file into separate column - powershell

Question

I created a script that lists all the folders, subfolders and files and export them to csv:
$path = "C:\tools"
Get-ChildItem $path -Recurse |select fullname | export-csv -Path "C:\temp\output.csv" -NoTypeInformation
But I would like that each folder, subfolder and file in pfad is written into separate column in csv.
Something like this:
c:\tools\test\1.jpg
Column1
Column2
Column3
tools
test
1.jpg
I will be grateful for any help.
Thank you.

Answer 1

You can split the Fullname property using the Split() method. The tricky part is that you need to know the maximum path depth in advance, as the CSV format requires that all rows have the same number of columns (even if some columns are empty).
# Process directory $path recursively
$allItems = Get-ChildItem $path -Recurse | ForEach-Object {
# Split on directory separator (typically '\' for Windows and '/' for Unix-like OS)
$FullNameSplit = $_.FullName.Split( [IO.Path]::DirectorySeparatorChar )
# Create an object that contains the splitted path and the path depth.
# This is implicit output that PowerShell captures and adds to $allItems.
[PSCustomObject] #{
FullNameSplit = $FullNameSplit
PathDepth = $FullNameSplit.Count
}
}
# Determine highest column index from maximum depth of all paths.
# Minus one, because we'll skip root path component.
$maxColumnIndex = ( $allItems | Measure-Object -Maximum PathDepth ).Maximum - 1
$allRows = foreach( $item in $allItems ) {
# Create an ordered hashtable
$row = [ordered]#{}
# Add all path components to hashtable. Make sure all rows have same number of columns.
foreach( $i in 1..$maxColumnIndex ) {
$row[ "Column$i" ] = if( $i -lt $item.FullNameSplit.Count ) { $item.FullNameSplit[ $i ] } else { $null }
}
# Convert hashtable to object suitable for output to CSV.
# This is implicit output that PowerShell captures and adds to $allRows.
[PSCustomObject] $row
}
# Finally output to CSV file
$allRows | Export-Csv -Path "C:\temp\output.csv" -NoTypeInformation
Notes:
The syntax Select-Object #{ Name= ..., Expression = ... } creates a calculated property.
$allRows = foreach captures and assigns all output of the foreach loop to variable $allRows, which will be an array if the loop outputs more than one object. This works with most other control statements as well, e. g. if and switch.
Within the loop I could have created a [PSCustomObject] directly (and used Add-Member to add properties to it) instead of first creating a hashtable and then converting to [PSCustomObject]. The choosen way should be faster as no additional overhead for calling cmdlets is required.

Answer 2

While a file with rows containing a variable number of items is not actually a CSV file, you can roll your own and Microsoft Excel can read it.
=== Get-DirCsv.ps1
Get-Childitem -File |
ForEach-Object {
$NameParts = $_.FullName -split '\\'
$QuotedParts = [System.Collections.ArrayList]::new()
foreach ($NamePart in $NameParts) {
$QuotedParts.Add('"' + $NamePart + '"') | Out-Null
}
Write-Output $($QuotedParts -join ',')
}
Use this to capture the output to a file with:
.\Get-DirCsv.ps1 | Out-File -FilePath '.\dir.csv' -Encoding ascii