How can i convert the output of prnmngr into custom object? - powershell

Question

output of cscript prnmngr.vbs -l
Server name abcd
Printer name \\abcd.com\mailroom
Share name mailroom
Driver name Canon iR-ADV 4225/4235 UFR II
Port name mailroom.com
Comment
Location
Print processor winprint
Data type RAW
Parameters
Attributes 536
Priority 1
Default priority 0
Average pages per minute 0
Printer status Idle
Extended printer status Unknown
Detected error state Unknown
Extended detected error state Unknown
Server name cdef
Printer name \\cdfet.com\mailroom3
Share name mailroom3
Driver name Canon iR-ADV 4225/4235 UFR II
Port name mailroomxxx.com
Comment
Location
Print processor winprint
Data type RAW
Parameters
Attributes 536
Priority 1
Default priority 0
Average pages per minute 0
Printer status Idle
Extended printer status Unknown
Detected error state Unknown
Extended detected error state Unknown
something like (note the modified output property names):
$CustomPrinterobjects = New-Object –TypeName PSObject
$CustomPrinterobjects | Add-Member –MemberType NoteProperty –Name ComputerName –Value "$a"
$CustomPrinterobjects | Add-Member –MemberType NoteProperty –Name Name –Value "$b"
$CustomPrinterobjects | Add-Member –MemberType NoteProperty –Name ShareName –Value "$c"
$CustomPrinterobjects | Add-Member –MemberType NoteProperty –Name DriverName –Value "$d"
$CustomPrinterobjects | Add-Member –MemberType NoteProperty –Name PortName –Value "$e"
where $a, $b, $c,$d, $e represent property values looped over the output of cscript prnmngr.vbs -l

Answer 1

Kory Gill helpfully suggests using the W8+ / W2K12+ Get-Printer cmdlet instead.
Similarly, kuujinbo suggests Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Printer for earlier OS versions.
In the spirit of PowerShell, both commands returns objects whose properties you can access directly - no need for text parsing.
In case you still have a need to parse the output from cscript prnmngr.vbs -l (if it provides extra information that the cited commands do not), use the following approach - note how much effort is needed to parse the textual output into structured objects:
Given that all information is space-separated and the property name part of each line is composed of varying numbers of tokens, the only predictable way to parse the text is to:
maintain a collection of well-known property names
consider whatever comes after the property name on the line the value.
A PSv3+ solution:
# Map the input property names of interest to output property names,
# using a hashtable.
$propNameMap = #{
'Server name ' = 'ComputerName'
'Printer name ' = 'Name'
'Share name ' = 'ShareName'
'Driver name ' = 'DriverName'
'Port name ' = 'PortName'
}
# Split the output of `cscript prnmngr.vbs -l` into paragraphs and
# parse each paragaph into a custom object with only the properties of interest.
$customPrinterObjs = (cscript prnmngr.vbs -l) -join "`n" -split "`n`n" | ForEach-Object {
$ohtFields = [ordered] #{}
foreach ($line in $_ -split "`n") {
foreach ($propNamePair in $propNameMap.GetEnumerator()) {
if ($line -like ($propNamePair.Key + '*')) {
$ohtFields[$propNamePair.Value] = $line.Substring($propNamePair.Key.length)
}
}
}
[pscustomobject] $ohtFields
}
# Output the resulting custom objects.
$customPrinterObjs
With your sample input, the above yields a 2-element [pscustomobject] array:
ComputerName : abcd
Name : \\abcd.com\mailroom
ShareName : mailroom
DriverName : Canon iR-ADV 4225/4235 UFR II
PortName : mailroom.com
ComputerName : cdef
Name : \\cdfet.com\mailroom3
ShareName : mailroom3
DriverName : Canon iR-ADV 4225/4235 UFR II
PortName : mailroomxxx.com
(cscript prnmngr.vbs -l) -join "`n" collects the output lines from cscript prnmngr.vbs -l in an array and then joins them to form a single multiline string.
-split "`n`n" splits the resulting multiline string into paragraphs, each representing a single printer's properties.
The ForEach-Object script block then processes each printer's properties paragraph:
foreach($line in $_ -split "`n") splits the multiline paragraph back into an array of lines and loops over them.
$ohtFields = [ordered] #{} initializes an empty ordered hashtable (where entries are reflected in definition order on output) to serve as the basis for creating a custom object.
The inner foreach loop then checks each line for containing a property of interest, and, if so, adds an entry to the output hashtable with the output property name and the property value, which is the part that follows the well-known property name on the line.
Finally, the ordered hashtable is output as a custom object by casting it to [pscustomobject].

Answer 2

Calling a vbscript-script from Powershell just feels like a "re-write it in Powershell sort of thing" (not to be judgy). #KoryGill asks an interesting question, "Why not just call Get-Printer"?
But, to your question, you can totally turn that into an object, but you'll have to do some text manipulation:
$printer_stuff = $(cscript prnmngr.vbs -l)
This will create a string array named $printer_stuff where each element has a separate line of output on it. You'll want to make a list of tokens for each printer property e.g., server name, printer name, etc. You'll iterate over the output (in the string array) copying the properties to a PSObject. Here is a cheap example to demonstrate the point:
## Make a list of tokens
$tokens = #('Server name', 'Printer name', 'Share name')
## This will be your printer object
$printer = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
## Parsing the string array and stuffing the good bits into your printer object
foreach ($thing in $printer_stuff[0..17]) {
foreach ($token in $tokens) {
if ($thing -match $token) {
Add-Member -InputObject $printer -MemberType NoteProperty -Name $token -Value $thing.Replace($token, '')
}
}
}
## Here is your object...
$printer
If the prnmgr.vbs script will be returning information on a bunch of printers, you can stuff that $printer object into an an array:
$printers = #()
....
$printers += $printer
You can pull each printer's data out of the string array with something like...
$min = 0
$max = $size
while ($min -lt $printer_stuff.length) {
$printer_stuff[$min..$max]
$min = $max + 1
$max += $size
}
As you can see, this is a big pain in the ass, which is why I suggest just to re-write the thing in Powershell. If you're slick enough to do this bit, you're slick enough to port the vbscript-script.
Good Luck,
A-