This is building $ret into a long 1 dimensional array rather than an array of arrays. I need it to be an array that is populated with $subret objects. Thanks.
$ret = @()
foreach ($item in $items){
$subret = @()
$subRet = $item.Name , $item.Value
$ret += $subret
}
there might be other ways but arraylist normally works for me, in this case I would do:
$ret = New-Object System.Collections.ArrayList
and then
$ret.add($subret)
The suspected preexisting duplicate question is indeed a duplicate:
Given that + with an array as the LHS concatenates arrays, you must nest the RHS with the unary form of , (the array-construction operator) if it is an array that should be added as a single element:
# Sample input
$items = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = 'n1'; Value = 'v1'},
[pscustomobject] @{ Name = 'n2'; Value = 'v2'}
$ret = @() # create an empty *array*
foreach ($item in $items) {
$subret = $item.Name, $item.Value # use of "," implicitly creates an array
$ret += , $subret # unary "," creates a 1-item array
}
# Show result
$ret.Count; '---'; $ret[0]; '---'; $ret[1]
This yields:
2
---
n1
v1
---
n2
v2
The reason the use of [System.Collections.ArrayList] with its .Add() method worked too - a method that is generally preferable when building large arrays - is that .Add() only accepts a single object as the item to add, irrespective of whether that object is a scalar or an array:
# Sample input
$items = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = 'n1'; Value = 'v1'},
[pscustomobject] @{ Name = 'n2'; Value = 'v2'}
$ret = New-Object System.Collections.ArrayList # create an *array list*
foreach ($item in $items) {
$subret = $item.Name, $item.Value
# .Add() appends whatever object you pass it - even an array - as a *single* element.
# Note the need for $null = to suppress output of .Add()'s return value.
$null = $ret.Add($subret)
}
# Produce sample output
$ret.Count; '---'; $ret[0]; '---'; $ret[1]
The output is the same as above.
Edit
It is more convoluted to create an array of tuples than fill an array with PsObjects containing Name Value as the two properties.
Select the properties you want from $item then add them to the array
$item = $item | select Name, Value
$arr = @()
$arr += $item
You can reference the values in this array by doing this
foreach($obj in $arr)
{
$name = $obj.Name
$value = $obj.Value
# Do actions with the values
}
[pscustomobject] instances that each have a .Name and .Value property - which is quite different than what was asked for, which is a 1-dimensional array of nested arrays with 2 elements each, whose values are the values of the input items' .Name and .Value properties.
I need it to be an array that is populated with $subret objects. He probably doesn't actually want a tuple for this kind of situation... it is much worse having to reference by doing $arr[0][0] if you want the name than doing $arr[0].Name. Can I get a halleluhah? It's just poor programming to do it with a tuple and makes it harder for others to understand what's going on in the code.
$ret += , $subretsolves the problem.