How do I add multi-line strings to an array in powershell? - powershell

Question

I'm trying to loop through a series of txt files extracting information into arrays based a : delimiter.
All values i'm taking from the text files fit on a single line, except for one. (The "ad text" value). This cuts off the information after line 1 in the final output. When I remove line carriages and breaks beforehand, none of the fields are inputted correctly.
How would I specify wanting my array to accept multi-line inputs for the "ad text" field?
Below is the code i'm working with:
$files = ls "*.txt"
$dictionary = #{}
[System.Collections.Generic.List[String]]$list = #()
foreach($f in $files){$in = Get-Content $f
$in.Split([Environment]::NewLine) | ForEach-Object { $key,$value = $_.Split(':')
$dictionary[$key] = $value
}
[void]$list.Add( $dictionary['Ad ID'] + ',' + $dictionary['Ad Text'] + ',' + $dictionary['Ad Landing Page'] + ',' + $dictionary['Ad Targeting Location'] + ',' + $dictionary['Age'] + ',' + $dictionary['Language'] + ',' + $dictionary['Placements'] + ',' + $dictionary['Interests'] + ',' + $dictionary['Behaviors'] + ',' + $dictionary['Ad Impressions'] + ',' + $dictionary['Ad Clicks'] + ',' + $dictionary['Ad Spend'] + ',' + $dictionary['Ad Creation Date'] + ','+ $dictionary['Friends'] + ',' + $dictionary['Ad End Date'] + ',' + $dictionary['Excluded Connections'] + ',' + $dictionary['Image'] + ',' + $dictionary['Ad Targeting Location']+','+$dictionary[‘File Name’] )
}
$list | Out-File -FilePath '.\trial.csv' -Append

Answer 1

Assuming that the additional lines following Ad Text:-prefixed lines do not contain : chars themselves:
# Create sample text file t.txt
#'
Ad ID:10
Ad Text:one
two
Ad Landing Page:http://example.org
'# > t.txt
# Split the lines into field names and values by ":" and
# build a dictionary.
$dict = [ordered] #{}
$i = 0
(Get-Content -Raw t.txt) -split '(?m)^([^\n:]+):' -ne '' | ForEach-Object {
if ($i++ % 2 -eq 0) {
$key = $_
} else {
$dict[$key] = $_
}
}
# Output the dictionary, showing each entry as a list.
$dict | Format-List
The output is as follows, showing that the Ad Text entry comprises two lines:
Name : Ad ID
Value : 10
Name : Ad Landing Page
Value : http://example.org
Name : Ad Text
Value : one
two