Convert array output to table using PowerShell

Question

I'm exporting certificates from Windows CA which is an array which has data in below format. I want to convert into table. Any idea?

From:

$a=@(
'a=all
 b=call
',
'a=all
 b=ll'
)

Current output:

a=all
b=call

a=all
b=ll

Desired output:

a     b
all   call
all   ll

Ansgar Wiechers · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-25 07:28:29Z

2

What you have is an array of multiline strings. For the desired output you need an array of objects:

$a = @(
    [PSCustomObject]@{
        'a' = 'all'
        'b' = 'call'
    },
    [PSCustomObject]@{
        'a' = 'all'
        'b' = 'll'
    }
)

If your input data is actually a list of multiline strings with lines of the form key=value you can transform those into custom objects like this:

$a = @(
'a=all
b=call',
'a=all
b=ll'
)

$a | ForEach-Object {
    [PSCustomObject]($_ | ConvertFrom-StringData)
}

ConvertFrom-StringData converts a string with one or more lines of key=value pairs into a hashtable, which can then be cast into a custom object.

answered Oct 25, 2018 at 7:28

Ansgar Wiechers

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Comments

Pwd9000 · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-25 08:15:32Z

0

You can also Create an empty Array and then just add values using [PsCustomObject]

$Table = @()
$Table += [Pscustomobject]@{a = "all"; b = "call"}
$Table += [Pscustomobject]@{a = "all"; b = "ll"}

answered Oct 25, 2018 at 8:15

Pwd9000

1429 bronze badges

Appending to an array is a slow operation and should be avoided where possible.