Removing white spaces from string line and using it in an array

Question

I was looking through the old posts but I cannot find the very specific answer how to replace the white space in the string and then use it as an array.

The input file consists the lines:

-rw-r--r--   1 myuser admin   315279199 May 12 02:46 2016_05_12_backup.tar.gz
-rw-r--r--   1 myuser admin   315278122 May 13 04:56 2016_05_13_backup.tar.gz

I want to receive the following output:

program executed on 2016-05-16 / 12:18:06
to unix: 
rm -fr 2016_05_12_backup.tar.gz
rm -fr 2016_05_13_backup.tar.gz


to excel log: 
2016_05_12_backup.tar.gz
2016_05_13_backup.tar.gz

=============== END  ==============

My code is here:

$path_in = "C:\test\input.txt"
$path_out = "C:\test\output.txt"

$endMessage = "=============== END  =============="

$reader = [System.IO.File]::OpenText($path_in)
$get_time_message = "program executed on " + [datetime]::now.ToString('yyyy-MM-dd / HH:mm:ss')

try {

add-content $path_out $get_time_message
add-content $path_out "to unix: "

$long_string_to_excel =""


    while($true){
        $line = $reader.ReadLine()

        if ($line -eq $null) { break }

        # divide the input line into array - remove white space 
        # it is hard coded here below for the lines that consist two and three space characters

        $better_line =  $line.replace('   ',' ')
        $best_line = $better_line.replace('  ',' ').split(' ')

        $stringToOutput = "rm -fr " + $best_line[8]

        $long_string_to_excel = $long_string_to_excel + $best_line[8]  + "`r`n"

        add-content $path_out $stringToOutput

    }

    add-content $path_out "`n"
    add-content $path_out "to excel log: "
    add-content $path_out $long_string_to_excel
    add-content $path_out $endMessage

}
finally {
    $reader.Close()
}
write-host "program execution:`ncompleted"

This script works ok, but it is "hard" coded for the input lines that consist two and three space characters. I wanted to use

    $better_line =  $line.replace(' +', ' ');
    $best_line = $better_line.split(' ')

instead of

    $better_line =  $line.replace('   ',' ')
    $best_line = $better_line.replace('  ',' ').split(' ')

but the results are incorrect:

program executed on 2016-05-16 / 12:18:04
to unix: 
rm -fr 315279199
rm -fr 315278122


to excel log: 
315279199
315278122

=============== END  ==============

Could you please advise on the solution how to replace the hard coded part so the script works for any type of white space in the single line?

Mathias R. Jessen · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-16 17:00:40Z

4

Instead of the static String.Split() method, use the builtin -split operator - it supports regular expressions so you can use it to split by "1 or more spaces" for example:

PS C:\> "a   b" -split '\s+'
a
b
PS C:\> "a b" -split '\s+'
a
b

answered May 16, 2016 at 17:00

Mathias R. Jessen

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JosefZ · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-16 18:23:51Z

2

How-to remove empty items from array in PowerShell:

Intuitive approach: check each item in array and verify if it is empty or not

    $best_line = $line.split(' ') | ? {$_}

Discursive (.NET) approach: String.Split Method (String[], StringSplitOptions)

    $best_line = $line.split(' ',[System.StringSplitOptions]::RemoveEmptyEntries)

Type: System.StringSplitOptions

StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries to omit empty array elements from the array returned; or

StringSplitOptions.None to include empty array elements in the array returned.

edited May 16, 2016 at 18:23

answered May 16, 2016 at 17:59

JosefZ

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1 Comment

paul543 Over a year ago

Thank you for the answer. I am going to check System.StringSplitOptions .

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