Compare Object Powershell

Question

I want to compare two objects and get only the different values. I have this code:

$a = ("this is blah blah DOG")
$b = ("Dit is blah BLAH dog")
Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $a -DifferenceObject $b

with the above code I get the following output:

InputObject           SideIndicator
-----------           -------------
Dit is blah BLAH dog  =>           
this is blah blah DOG <=

However I want only the different values in both the objects i.e. Dit and this

Matt · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-23 16:13:18Z

3

Compare-Object works on the whole objects and its properties. It will not do lazy string matching. If you wanted that you need to split the string into arrays first

$a = "this is blah blah DOG".Split()
$b = "Dit is blah BLAH dog".Split()
Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $a -DifferenceObject $b

Beware of potential issues with case sensitivity and use the -CaseSensitive as needed.

edited Nov 23, 2018 at 16:13

answered Nov 23, 2018 at 16:09

Matt

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No Refunds No Returns · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-23 16:10:59Z

2

For this specific example:

$a = ("this is blah blah DOG").Split(" ")
$b = ("Dit is blah BLAH dog").Split(" ")
Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $a -DifferenceObject $b

answered Nov 23, 2018 at 16:10

No Refunds No Returns

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2 Comments

wrdw Over a year ago

When I do the same for an object that imports values from a csv file I get items in both the objects. Whereas I only want items that are in object1 but not in object2

No Refunds No Returns Over a year ago

Recommend you post a minimum exact repro of what you are wanting to do.

postanote · Accepted Answer · 2018-11-24 01:52:01Z

You don't show what your csv file looks like, so, there's that, but stepping though what you are after.

($a = Get-Content -Path 'D:\Documents\file1.txt')
($b = Get-Content -Path 'D:\Documents\file2.txt')
Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $a -DifferenceObject $b

<#
What's in the two files

file1
hello
world



file2
hello
world



InputObject SideIndicator
----------- -------------
file2       =>           
file1       <=           
#>




($a = Get-Content -Path 'D:\Documents\file1.csv')
($b = Get-Content -Path 'D:\Documents\file2.csv')
Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $a -DifferenceObject $b

<#
What's in the two files

Col1,Col2,Col3
file1,hello,world



Col1,Col2,Col3
file2,hello,world



InputObject       SideIndicator
-----------       -------------
file2,hello,world =>           
file1,hello,world <=           
#>



($a = (Get-Content -Path 'D:\Documents\file1.csv' | Select -Skip 1) -split ',')
($b = (Get-Content -Path 'D:\Documents\file2.csv' | Select -Skip 1) -split ',')
Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $a -DifferenceObject $b

<#
file1
hello
world



file2
hello
world




InputObject SideIndicator
----------- -------------
file2       =>           
file1       <=  
#>

Lastly, this also sounds eerily like this Q&A

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