Join statement in powershell - powershell

I am learning powershell, I got an example. But I am totally unable to understand it.
Here is code :
if($($wordProgress -join '') -like $targetWord)

Going back to your previous question, $wordProgress is a strong-typed array. So the $($wordProgress -join '') is joining the array values and comparing the joined value to $targetword.
Its in an If statement, so if it returns true, it will do whatever is in the proceeding {} block.
Here is an example of this in action.
[int[]]$nums = 1,2,3,4
Write-Host "Not Joined = "
$nums
Write-Host "Joined = "
($nums -join '')
If($($nums -join '') -like '1234'){
Write-host "Do something!"
}
Also, as you are new to Powershell, I recommend you start by learning about the Get-Help Cmdlet.
Here is how you would use it to learn about the -join operator
Get-help about_join

I'm guessing $wordProgress is a char-array(list of characters).
$() is a subexpression that is used to run something before continue processing.
-join '' joins the array values with a blank delimiter(so just add the values after eachother), to create a string.
-like matches the left side(the string created from the char-array) with the word on the right side.
This is all inside an if-test, so if the joined string matches the $targetWord, it would run the code that should come after your expression.
Sample:
PS > [char[]]$wordProgress = "a","b","c"
PS > $targetWord = 'abc'
PS > $($wordProgress -join '')
abc
PS > if($($l -join '') -like $targetWord) { "MATCH" }
MATCH

Related

Nested if and for loop errors

would any of you be able to help me with the below code
$pcname = "jwang"
#We set $test as a string to be called later
$test = get-adcomputer -filter "name -like '$pcname'" | select -ExpandProperty name
#We define a null string to test our IF statement
$nothing = $null
$number = 1
if ($test -ne $null) {
Write-Host "$pcname is currently in use"
for($number = 1; ($test = get-adcomputer -filter "name -like '$pcname + $number'" | select -ExpandProperty name) -ne $null; $number++ ){
Write-Host $pcname + $number
}
}
else {
Write-host "AD lookup complete, new PC name will be $pcname"
}
The IF statement works correctly, but the trouble starts when I add the nested FOR loop.
The end goal is to have AD tell me if the name is available or not.
Right now in AD there is
JWANG
JWANG1
JWANG2
JWANG3
JWANG4
I want the for loop to eventuelly tell me that "JWANG5" is available, any help is appreciated, thank you
The immediate problem with your code is that $pcname + $number - an expression - isn't enclosed in $(...), the subexpression operator inside your expandable (double-quoted) string ("...").
Therefore, use $($pcname + $number) or, relying on mere string interpolation, $pcname$number
An aside re testing for $null:
It is advisable to make $null the LHS for reliably null testing (if ($null -ne $test)), because on the RHS it acts as a filter if the LHS happens to be an array - see about_Comparison_Operators.
However, often - such as when objects are being returned from a command, you can simply use implicit to-Boolean conversion (if ($test)) - see the bottom section of this answer for the complete rules.
Taking a step back:
Querying AD multiple times is inefficient, and since you're already using the -like operator, you can use it with a wildcard pattern to find all matching names at once:
$pcname = 'jwang'
# Note the use of "*" to match all names that *start with* $pcname
$names = get-adcomputer -filter "name -like '$pcname*'" | select -ExpandProperty name
if ($names) { # at least one name found
Write-Host "$pcname is currently in use"
# Find the highest number embedded in the matching names.
$seqNums = [int[]] ($names -replace '\D')
# The new sequence number is the next number following the currently highest.
$nextSeqNum = 1 + [Linq.Enumerable]::Max($seqNums)
# Form the new name and output it.
$pcname + $nextSeqNum
}
else {
Write-host "AD lookup complete, new PC name will be $pcname"
}

How do I change foreach to for in PowerShell?

I want to print the word exist in a text file and print "match" and "not match". My 1st text file is: xxaavv6J, my 2nd file is 6J6SCa.yB.
If it is match, it return like this:
Match found:
Match found:
Match found:
Match found:
Match found:
Match found: 6J
Match found:
Match found:
Match found:
My expectation is just print match and not match.
$X = Get-Content "C:\Users\2.txt"
$Data = Get-Content "C:\Users\d.txt"
$Split = $Data -split '(..)'
$Y = $X.Substring(0, 6)
$Z = $Y -split '(..)'
foreach ($i in $Z) {
foreach ($j in $Split) {
if ($i -like $j) {
Write-Host ("Match found: {0}" -f $i, $j)
}
}
}
The operation -split '(..)' does not produce the result you think it does. If you take a look at the output of the following command you'll see that you're getting a lot of empty results:
PS C:\> 'xxaavv6J' -split '(..)' | % { "-$_-" }
--
-xx-
--
-aa-
--
-vv-
--
-6J-
--
Those empty values are the additional matches you're getting from $i -like $j.
I'm not quite sure why -split '(..)' gives you any non-empty values in the first place, because I would have expected it to produce 5 empty strings for an input string "xxaavv6J". Apparently it has to do with the grouping parentheses, since -split '..' (without the grouping parentheses) actually does behave as expected. Looks like with the capturing group the captured matches are returned on top of the results of the split operation.
Anyway, to get the behavior you want replace
... -split '(..)'
with
... |
Select-String '..' -AllMatches |
Select-Object -Expand Matches |
Select-Object -Expand Value
You can also replace the nested loop with something like this:
foreach ($i in $Z) {
if (if $Split -contains $i) {
Write-Host "Match found: ${i}"
}
}
A slightly different approach using regex '.Match()' should also do it.
I have added a lot of explaining comments for you:
$Test = Get-Content "C:\Users\2.txt" -Raw # Read as single string. Contains "xxaavv6J"
$Data = (Get-Content "C:\Users\d.txt") -join '' # Read as array and join the lines with an empty string.
# This will remove Newlines. Contains "6J6SCa.yB"
# Split the data and make sure every substring has two characters
# In each substring, the regex special characters need to be Escaped.
# When this is done, we join the substrings together using the pipe symbol.
$Data = ($Data -split '(.{2})' | # split on every two characters
Where-Object { $_.Length -eq 2 } | # don't care about any left over character
ForEach-Object { [Regex]::Escape($_) } ) -join '|' # join with the '|' which is an OR in regular expression
# $Data is now a string to use with regular expression: "6J|6S|Ca|\.y"
# Using '.Match()' works Case-Sensitive. To have it compare Case-Insensitive, we do this:
$Data = '(?i)' + $Data
# See if we can find one or more matches
$regex = [regex]$Data
$match = $regex.Match($Test)
# If we have found at least one match:
if ($match.Groups.Count) {
while ($match.Success) {
# matched text: $match.Value
# match start: $match.Index
# match length: $match.Length
Write-Host ("Match found: {0}" -f $match.Value)
$match = $match.NextMatch()
}
}
else {
Write-Host "Not Found"
}
Result:
Match found: 6J
Further to the excellent Ansgar Wiechers' answer: if you are running (above) Windows PowerShell 4.0 then you could apply the .Where() method described in Kirk Munro's exhaustive article ForEach and Where magic methods:
With the release of Windows PowerShell 4.0, two new “magic” methods
were introduced for collection types that provide a new syntax for
accessing ForEach and Where capabilities in Windows PowerShell.
These methods are aptly named ForEach and Where. I call
these methods “magic” because they are quite magical in how they work
in PowerShell. They don’t show up in Get-Member output, even if you
apply -Force and request -MemberType All. If you roll up your
sleeves and dig in with reflection, you can find them; however, it
requires a broad search because they are private extension methods
implemented on a private class. Yet even though they are not
discoverable without peeking under the covers, they are there when you
need them, they are faster than their older counterparts, and they
include functionality that was not available in their older
counterparts, hence the “magic” feeling they leave you with when you
use them in PowerShell. Unfortunately, these methods remain
undocumented even today, almost a year since they were publicly
released, so many people don’t realize the power that is available in
these methods.
…
The Where method
Where is a method that allows you to filter a collection of objects.
This is very much like the Where-Object cmdlet, but the Where
method is also like Select-Object and Group-Object as well,
includes several additional features that the Where-Object cmdlet
does not natively support by itself. This method provides faster
performance than Where-Object in a simple, elegant command. Like
the ForEach method, any objects that are output by this method are
returned in a generic collection of type
System.Collections.ObjectModel.Collection1[psobject].
There is only one version of this method, which can be described as
follows:
Where(scriptblock expression[, WhereOperatorSelectionMode mode[, int numberToReturn]])
As indicated by the square brackets, the expression script block is
required and the mode enumeration and the numberToReturn integer
argument are optional, so you can invoke this method using 1, 2, or 3
arguments. If you want to use a particular argument, you must provide
all arguments to the left of that argument (i.e. if you want to
provide a value for numberToReturn, you must provide values for
mode and expression as well).
Applied to your case (using the simplest variant Where(scriptblock expression) of the .Where() method):
$X = '6J6SCa.yB' # Get-Content "C:\Users\2.txt"
$Data = 'xxaavv6J' # Get-Content "C:\Users\d.txt"
$Split = ($Data -split '(..)').Where({$_ -ne ''})
$Y = $X.Substring(0, 6)
$Z = ($Y -split '(..)').Where{$_ -ne ''} # without parentheses
For instance, Ansgar's example changes as follows:
PS > ('xxaavv6J' -split '(..)').Where{$_ -ne ''} | % { "-$_-" }
-xx-
-aa-
-vv-
-6J-

String coming with an extra new line

Below is the code where I am taking server names from a text file and concatenating with comma.
But when I am printing the value, it is coming with an extra new line after the values.
I tried doing $erversToReboot.Trim(), but didn't helped.
$ServerList = Get-Content "D:\ServerName.txt"
$Servers=""
foreach($Server in $ServerList)
{
$Servers += $Server + ","
}
[string]$ServersToReboot= $Servers.TrimEnd(",")
The output coming as
server1,server2
---one extra line here---
Please let me know what is going wrong here.
Best as I can tell, you're attempting to comma separate your servers. I'd skip the Foreach construct myself and simply use the join operator.
$ServerList = Get-Content -Path 'D:\ServerName.txt'
$ServerList -join ','
This can be done in a single statement, as well.
$ServerList = (Get-Content -Path 'D:\ServerName.txt') -join ','
Tommy
As others have noted, it's in general much simpler to use the -join operator to join the input lines with a specifiable separator.
As for the problem of an extra empty line: Gert Jan Kraaijeveld plausibly suggests that your input file has an extra empty line at the end, while noting that it is actually not what would happen with the code you've posted, which should work fine (despite its inefficiency).
Perhaps the extra line is an artifact of how you're printing the resulting value.
To answer the related question of how to ignore empty lines in the input file:
Assuming that it is OK to simply remove all empty lines from the input, the simplest PowerShell-idiomatic solution is:
#(Get-Content D:\ServerName.txt) -ne '' -join ','
#(Get-Content D:\ServerName.txt) returns the input lines as an array[1] of strings, from which -ne '' then removes empty lines, and the result of which -join joins with separator ,
[1] Get-Content D:\ServerName.txt would return a scalar (single string), if the input file happened to contain only 1 line, because PowerShell generally reports a single output object as itself rather than as a single-element array when pipeline output is collected.
Because of that, #(...), the array-subexpression operator - instead of just (...) - is needed in the above command: it ensures that the output from Get-Command is treated as an array, because the -ne operator acts differently with a scalar LHS and returns a Boolean rather than filtering the LHS's elements: compare 'foo' -ne '' to #('foo') -ne ''.
By contrast, the #(...) is not necessary if you pass the result (directly) to -join (which simply is a no-op with a scalar LHS):
(Get-Content D:\ServerName.txt) -join ','

PowerShell split input and replace/combine?

I want to be able to automatically generate an output if I run a PowerShell script that splits the input by a period "." and adds "DC=" in each item/object that has been split.
$DomainFQDN = "prod.mydomain.com" # This varies depending on the input. It could be "prod.boston.us.mydomain.com" as the input.
$DistinguishedName = $DomainFQDN -split "\."
...
...
...I just don't know how to proceed
How do I get an output of "DC=prod,DC=mydomain,DC=com" for prod.mydomain.com as the input or DC=prod,DC=boston,DC=us,DC=mydomain,DC=com for prod.boston.us.mydomain.com?
Well, you can use foreach construct with $DistinguishedName and use -join like this (if you want to output directly the joined string):
$AddDC = foreach ($e in $DistinguishedName) { "DC=$e" }
Write-Host $($AddDC -join ",")
-join works like -split, you just specify the character that you need to join by.
Other way to do it is to store $AddDC
$AddDC = foreach ($e in $DistinguishedName) { "DC=$e" }
$new_string = $AddDC -join ","
Write-Host $new_string
You can consult this page for more info.
If I got it right, this is what needed:
$fqdn='prod.boston.us.mydomain.com'
$dn="DC=$($fqdn.replace('.',',DC='))"
$dn
$DomainFQDN = "prod.mydomain.com"
$DomainFQDN = $DomainFQDN.Split(".")
For ($i = 0; $i -lt $DomainFQDN.Count; $i++) {
$DomainFQDN[$i] = "DC=" + $DomainFQDN[$i]
}
$DomainFQDN = $DomainFQDN -join ","
Write-Host $DomainFQDN
Output:
DC=prod,DC=mydomain,DC=com
I'm not sure why I couldn't get the -Split "." operator to work. It should function the same as .Split(".") but for some reason it gives a different result. But anyway this should work for you.
I feel like I should mention that a real FQDN would not be DC= on every line. It would look more like:
DC=Com,DC=MyDomain,OU=Prod
I usually do a single replace operation in an expandable to convert from FQDN to distinguished name of the domain root:
$DistinguishedName = "DC=$($DomainFQDN.TrimEnd('.') -replace '\.',',DC=')"
The TrimEnd('.') call strips any dot from rooted FQDNs, and the replace operation replaces each remaining dot with ,DC=

Pass a single space-delimited string as multiple arguments

I have a Powershell function in which I am trying to allow the user to add or remove items from a list by typing the word "add" or "remove" followed by a space-delimited list of items. I have an example below (slightly edited, so you can just drop the code into a powershell prompt to test it "live").
$Script:ServerList = #("Server01","Server02","Server03")
Function EditServerList (){
$Script:ServerList = $Script:ServerList |Sort -Unique
Write-host -ForegroundColor Green $Script:ServerList
$Inputs = $args
If ($Inputs[0] -eq "start"){
$Edits = Read-Host "Enter `"add`" or `"remove`" followed by a space-delimited list of server names"
#"# EditServerList $Edits
# EditServerList $Edits.split(' ')
EditServerList ($Edits.split(' ') |Where {$_ -NotLike "add","remove"})
EditServerList start
} Elseif ($Inputs[0] -eq "add"){
$Script:ServerList += $Inputs |where {$_ -NotLike $Inputs[0]}
EditServerList start
} Elseif ($Inputs[0] -eq "remove"){
$Script:ServerList = $Script:ServerList |Where {$_ -NotLike ($Inputs |Where {$_ -Notlike $Inputs[0]})}
EditServerList start
} Else {
Write-Host -ForegroundColor Red "ERROR!"
EditServerList start
}
}
EditServerList start
As you can see, the function takes in a list of arguments. The first argument is evaluated in the If/Then statements and then the rest of the arguments are treated as items to add or remove from the list.
I have tried a few different approaches to this, which you can see commented out in the first IF evaluation.
I have two problems.
When I put in something like "add Server05 Server06" (without quotes) it works, but it also drops in the word "add".
When I put in "remove Server02 Server03" (without quotes) it does not edit the array at all.
Can anybody point out where I'm going wrong, or suggest a better approach to this?
To address the title's generic question up front:
When you pass an array to a function (and nothing else), $Args receives a single argument containing the whole array, so you must use $Args[0] to access it.
There is a way to pass an array as individual arguments using splatting, but it requires an intermediate variable - see bottom.
To avoid confusion around such issues, formally declare your parameters.
Try the following:
$Script:ServerList = #("Server01", "Server02", "Server03")
Function EditServerList () {
# Split the arguments, which are all contained in $Args[0],
# into the command (1st token) and the remaining
# elements (as an array).
$Cmd, $Servers = $Args[0]
If ($Cmd -eq "start"){
While ($true) {
Write-host -ForegroundColor Green $Script:ServerList
$Edits = Read-Host "Enter `"add`" or `"remove`" followed by a space-delimited list of server names"
#"# Pass the array of whitespace-separated tokens to the recursive
# invocation to perform the requested edit operation.
EditServerList (-split $Edits)
}
} ElseIf ($Cmd -eq "add") {
# Append the $Servers array to the list, weeding out duplicates and
# keeping the list sorted.
$Script:ServerList = $Script:ServerList + $Servers | Sort-Object -Unique
} ElseIf ($Cmd -eq "remove") {
# Remove all specified $Servers from the list.
# Note that servers that don't exist in the list are quietly ignored.
$Script:ServerList = $Script:ServerList | Where-Object { $_ -notin $Servers }
} Else {
Write-Host -ForegroundColor Red "ERROR!"
}
}
EditServerList start
Note how a loop is used inside the "start" branch to avoid running out of stack space, which could happen if you keep recursing.
$Cmd, $Servers = $Args[0] destructures the array of arguments (contained in the one and only argument that was passed - see below) into the 1st token - (command string add or remove) and the array of the remaining arguments (server names).
Separating the arguments into command and server-name array up front simplifies the remaining code.
The $var1, $var2 = <array> technique to split the RHS into its first element - assigned as a scalar to $var1 - and the remaining elements - assigned as an array to $var2, is commonly called destructuring or unpacking; it is documented in Get-Help about_Assignment Operators, albeit without giving it such a name.
-split $Edits uses the convenient unary form of the -split operator to break the user input into an array of whitespace-separated token and passes that array to the recursive invocation.
Note that EditServerList (-split $Edits) passes a single argument that is an array - which is why $Args[0] must be used to access it.
Using PowerShell's -split operator (as opposed to .Split(' ')) has the added advantage of ignoring leading and trailing whitespace and ignoring multiple spaces between entries.
In general, operator -split is preferable to the [string] type's .Split() method - see this answer of mine.
Not how containment operator -notin, which accepts an array as the RHS, is used in Where-Object { $_ -notin $Servers } in order to filter out values from the server list contained in $Servers.
As for what you tried:
EditServerList ($Edits.split(' ') |Where {$_ -NotLike "add","remove"}) (a) mistakenly attempts to remove the command name from the argument array, even though the recursive invocations require it, but (b) actually fails to do so, because the RHS of -like doesn't support arrays. (As an aside: since you're looking for exact strings, -eq would have been the better choice.)
Since you're passing the arguments as an array as the first and only argument, $Inputs[0] actually refers to the entire array (command name + server names), not just to its first element (the command name).
You got away with ($Inputs[0] -eq "add") - even though the entire array was compared - because the -eq operator performs array filtering if its LHS is an array, returning a sub-array of matching elements. Since add was among the elements, a 1-element sub-array was returned, which, in a Boolean context, is "truthy".
However, your attempt to weed out the command name with where {$_ -NotLike $Inputs[0]} then failed, and add was not removed - you'd actually have to compare to $Inputs[0][0] (sic).
Where {$_ -NotLike ($Inputs |Where {$_ -Notlike $Inputs[0]})} doesn't filter anything out for the following reasons:
($Inputs |Where {$_ -Notlike $Inputs[0]}) always returns an empty array, because, the RHS of -Notlike is an array, which, as stated, doesn't work.
Therefore, the command is the equivalent of Where {$_ -NotLike #() } which returns $True for any scalar on the LHS.
Passing an array as individual arguments using splatting
Argument splatting (see Get-Help about_Splatting) works with arrays, too:
> function foo { $Args.Count } # function that outputs the argument count.
> foo #(1, 2) # pass array
1 # single parameter, containing array
> $arr = #(1, 2); foo #arr # splatting: array elements are passed as indiv. args.
2
Note how an intermediate variable is required, and how it must be prefixed with # rather than $ to perform the splatting.
I'd use parameters to modify the ServerList, this way you can use a single line to both add and remove:
Function EditServerList {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[string]$ServerList,
[array]$add,
[array]$remove
)
Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "ServerList Contains: $ServerList"
$Servers = $ServerList.split(' ')
if ($add) {
$Servers += $add.split(' ')
}
if ($remove) {
$Servers = $Servers | Where-Object { $remove.split(' ') -notcontains $_ }
}
return $Servers
}
Then you can call the function like this:
EditServerList -ServerList "Server01 Server02 Server03" -remove "Server02 Server03" -add "Server09 Server10"
Which will return:
Server01
Server09
Server10