get-content powershell commandlet is not returning

Question

I am trying to get the contents of a file as hex in Powershell, and I am using the following:

get-content -encoding byte $fullFilePath | %{"{0:X2}" -f $_} | %{$hex = $hex + $_}

When I run this script, I do not get an error, but it does not return, it just hangs.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

How big is the file in $fullFilePath? You can skip the second ForEach-Object as well: Get-Content $fullFilePath -Encoding Byte | %{ $hex += "{0:X2}" -f $_ } -- tested with a few smaller files and $hex is populated very quickly. Testing with a 43MB PDF and it's been running for over two minutes. — jscott
– jscott, Commented Feb 7, 2014 at 16:28
Only 67k. I did wait longer, and it returned. Thanks for the help. PLEASE post as an answer so I can accept it. — Sako73
– Sako73, Commented Feb 7, 2014 at 16:33

mjolinor · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-07 17:16:15Z

3

That string concatenation is going to be a serious performance drag. I'd switch to using a stringbuilder:

$hex = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder

get-content -encoding byte $fullFilePath | 
%{"{0:X2}" -f $_} | %{$hex.Append($_) > $null}

$hex = $hex.ToString()

Testing with a 125KB file dropped the run time from 58 seconds to 12 after switching from concatenation to using the stringbuilder.

edited Feb 7, 2014 at 17:16

answered Feb 7, 2014 at 16:52

mjolinor

68.7k7 gold badges118 silver badges141 bronze badges

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

Comments

Keith Hill · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-07 16:58:33Z

3

If you happen to be using the PowerShell Community Extensions, it has a Format-Hex command (alias fhex) e.g.:

get-content -encoding byte $fullFilePath | fhex

answered Feb 7, 2014 at 16:58

Keith Hill

204k44 gold badges370 silver badges377 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

get-content powershell commandlet is not returning

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related