Truncating variable text string

Question

I'm assigning the Get-Mailbox command to a variable so that I can output this to a log file:

$SmtpForwardingAddress = Get-Mailbox -Identity $Upn | Select ForwardingSmtpAddress
"Email forwarding set to $($SmtpForwardingAddress)" | Tee-Object $logfilepath -Append

The variable $SmtpForwardingAddress returns:

"Email forwarding set to @{ForwardingSmtpAddress=smtp:[email protected]}"

I'd like to trim this to just the [email protected] value. I've tried a couple of things but get errors like the below:

Method invocation failed because [Selected.System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject] does not contain a method named 'substring'.

Method invocation failed because [Selected.System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject] does not contain a method named 'Trim'.

Any ideas as to what I can do to get the desired result?

As shown above: "@{ForwardingSmtpAddress=smtp:[email protected]}" — jshizzle
– jshizzle, Commented Jul 19, 2017 at 15:38

Maximilian Burszley · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-19 15:38:08Z

3

An object is being stored into $SmtpForwardingAddress instead of a [String] like you're expecting which does not have those methods.

Try this:

"Email forwarding set to $(($SmtpForwardingAddress.ForwardingSmtpAddress).TrimStart('smtp:'))

answered Jul 19, 2017 at 15:38

Maximilian Burszley

19.9k7 gold badges39 silver badges68 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

jshizzle Over a year ago

Ah spot on thanks. So because it's an object that's being stored, the property .ForwardingSmtpAddress needs to be added to provide the trim method with something to work with?

Maximilian Burszley Over a year ago

I'm assuming the object's property points to a string that is smtp:[email protected]. You can confirm for certain by using the .GetType() method. @{} indicates a PowerShell object. @() is an array, for example.

jshizzle Over a year ago

Yes, $SmtpForwardingAddress.GetType() returns PSCustomObject whereas $SmtpForwardingAddress.ForwardingSmtpAddress.GetType() returns string. Good to know thanks

Maximilian Burszley Over a year ago

@jshizzle additionally, you can pipe an object to Get-Member to see all of its properties and methods. Because .ForwardingSmtpAddress is a string, it contains the .Trim* and .Substring methods. e.g. $SmtpForwardingAddress.ForwardingSmtpAddress | Get-Member

score 1 · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-19 16:03:43Z

1

In PowerShell there always is more than one solution.

$ForwardingAddress = (Get-Mailbox -Identity $Upn).ForwardingSmtpAddress.Split(':')[1]
"Email forwarding set to $ForwardingAddress" | Tee-Object $logfilepath -Append

edited Jul 19, 2017 at 16:03

answered Jul 19, 2017 at 15:48

user6811411

2 Comments

jshizzle Over a year ago

Nice one thanks although this doesn't like the .[1] at the end. leaving this out splits the results on three separate lines but obviously just want the one which I dare say is what the .[1] was meant to do?

jshizzle Over a year ago

Cracking stuff. Always nice to have an alternative.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Truncating variable text string

2 Answers 2

4 Comments

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

4 Comments

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related