Generic Parameter in Powershell - powershell

Question

In powershell, is there a way to specify that a parameter is generic? Basically, the function I'm writing doesn't care what type you hand it, as it technically works with all objects, but if I specify [object[]] as the parameter type, the objects loose type information which may or may not be handled correctly by other CmdLets down the pipeline.
function Pack-Objects{
[CmdletBinding()]
Param(
[Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$True,ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$True)]
[object[]]$InputObjects
)
BEGIN{
$OutputObjects = New-Object System.Collections.ArrayList($null)
}PROCESS{
$OutputObjects.Add($_) | Out-Null
}END{
Write-Verbose "Passing off $($OutputObjects.Count) objects downstream"
return ,$OutputObjects.ToArray()
}
}
For example, if I run 1,2,3 | Pack-Objects | Get-Member, the returned type is System.Object[]. I want it so that if I pass it integers, it gives me an array of integers; string and array of strings; and so on.

Answer 1

I don't understand why you need it but this should do what you want:
[CmdletBinding()]
Param(
[Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$True,ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$True)]
$InputObjects
)
BEGIN{
$script:i = 0
$script:OutputObjects = New-Object System.Collections.ArrayList($null)
}
PROCESS{
foreach ( $_ in $InputObjects)
{
$script:t = $_.gettype() | select -expa name
if ( $i -gt 0 )
{
if ( $ts -notmatch $t ){"types are differents!!";break}
}
$ts = $t
$i++
$OutputObjects.Add($_) | Out-Null
}
}
END{
iex "[$t[]]`$OutputObjects = `$OutputObjects.toarray()"
#(,$OutputObjects)
}
PS C:\ps> ("q","d","e" | .\Pack-Objects.ps1).gettype()
IsPublic IsSerial Name BaseType
-------- -------- ---- --------
True True String[] System.Array
PS C:\ps> (1,2,3 | .\Pack-Objects.ps1).gettype()
IsPublic IsSerial Name BaseType
-------- -------- ---- --------
True True Int32[] System.Array
PS C:\ps> 1,2,3,"e" | .\Pack-Objects.ps1
types are differents!!