Columns Page Layout in Word with Powershell - powershell

Question

I'm creating a word document with Powershell and I need to create a two-column column similar to the GUI method shown in the screen shot below:
I've researched other websites that explain basic Powershell Word objects, properties and methods, such as this one. However, there seems to be a lot more functionality that is "hidden" deep in the pages and pages of properties and methods. I'm looking to create a two-column column in my word doc. Here is the code I used to create the document and write to it:
$fileName = 'C:\template.docx'
$word = New-Object -Com Word.Application
$word.Visible = $true
$document = $word.Documents.Open($fileName)
$selection = $word.Selection
$text = "Test Text."
$selection.TypeText($text)
$document.SaveAs($fileName)
$document.Close()
$word.Quit()
$word = $null

Answer 1

Having worked with Excel ComObjects, it's not the easiest to figure out how to make it work with PowerShell.
You're missing this line:
$selection.PageSetup.TextColumns.SetCount(2)
How to get there?
Check the Word Interop Com Object MSDN page
It's probably the PageSetup object we're interesting in (because in the GUI the two columns appear under Layout > Page Setup > Columns)
Googling "word com object pagesetup" leds to a better MSDN documentation page that lists the properties
Repeat this process for TextColumns - it has the methods in the "Remarks" but I prefer to a doc page which lists the members
Finally, finding the SetCount method.
Hopefully this helps you to figure out how to navigate the Word ComObject document in future. The examples are in VBA or C# at best and need to be translated to PowerShell.
$fileName = 'C:\Template.docx'
$binding = "System.Reflection.BindingFlags" -as [type]
$word = New-Object -Com Word.Application
$word.Visible = $true
$document = $word.Documents.Open($fileName)
$selection = $word.Selection
$text = "Test Text."
$selection.TypeText($text)
$selection.PageSetup.TextColumns.SetCount(2)
# check the GUI here.
# You will see the Layout > Page Setup > Columns > Two is selected
$document.SaveAs($fileName)
$document.Close()
$word.Quit()
$word = $null