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Articles
Q. How can I use Windows PowerShell to
read and use a comma-separated value (CSV) file?
by John
Savill
4.14.08
A. The PowerShell cmdlet Import-csv lets you read
and manipulate a CSV file. The following code and output is an example
of the command you would use to view a CSV file. Take note that the
CSV's first row defines each column.
D:\Documents\Books\Complete Windows Longhorn\Images> import-csv "Chapter
3 Image Names.csv"
The return would be:
Old Name new name
-------- --------
3-inst1.tif 03wls01.tif
3-inst2.tif 03wls02.tif
3-inst3.tif 03wls03.tif
3-inst4.tif 03wls04.tif
The cmdlet’s real strength is manipulating the output. For example,
while writing The Complete Guide to Windows Server 2008, I used
my own image-naming format, which wasn't the correct format for the
final production manuscript. So I used a CSV file to rename the
documents, mapping the old name to its true standards-based name.
To access each CSV-file row of data, you must acquire each as an object.
Then, examine the values named by each column by using code similar to
the following:
PS D:\Documents\Books\Complete Windows Longhorn\Images> import-csv
"Chapter 3 Image Names.csv" | foreach-object {write-host $_."old name"
$_."new name"}
The return would be:
3-inst1.tif 03wls01.tif
3-inst2.tif 03wls02.tif
3-inst3.tif 03wls03.tif
3-inst4.tif 03wls04.tif
You'll notice that I placed column names only in quotes because I have a
space in the column names. I can rename a column by changing write-host
to rename-item, similar to the following sample code, and I'm done:
PS D:\Documents\Books\Complete Windows Longhorn\Images> import-csv
"Chapter 4 Image Names.csv" | foreach-object {rename-item $_."old name"
$_."new name"}
Q. How I can I use Windows PowerShell
to get a count of all of my machine's services?
by John
Savill
4.15.08
A. The Get-Service cmdlet returns information
about all services. You can easily pass this output to a loop that
increments a counter. The following code provides an example:
Users\john.SAVILLTECH> Get-service | foreach {$t=0} {$t +=1} {"Total
services: $t"}
The return is:
Total services: 144
How does this work? The Foreach cmdlet has three sections. The first
runs the {$t=0} variable once to set it to zero. The second section, {$t
+=1}, increments the variable by one for each service, and the final
section, {"Total services: $t"}, displays the variable's value when the
cmdlet finishes.
Q. How can I use Windows PowerShell to
return a list of machine services in a designated
state?
by John
Savill
4.16.08
A. You can use PowerShell to examine a service
object's Status property. You query the Status property with the
Where-Object cmdlet, for example, to list only running services, as
follows:
get-service | where-object {$_.status -eq "Running"}
Q. How can I use Windows PowerShell to
return a list with only unique values?
by John
Savill
4.17.08
A. Getting a list with only unique values is easy
with PowerShell. Pass your list of unique values to the Get-Unique
cmdlet—as the following code shows—and PowerShell will output only
the unique instance:
Users\john.SAVILLTECH> 1,1,1,1,2,2,2,3,4,4,4,4,5,6,6,6,7,7,7,7,4,5 |
get-unique
The return is:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
4
5
This return includes a duplicate 4 and duplicate 5 at the end. The
cmdlet returned only unique values for adjacent values, which is how the
cmdlet works. To avoid this problem, first use the Sort-Object cmdlet to
sort the list, as in the following example:
Users\john.SAVILLTECH> 1,1,1,1,2,2,2,3,4,4,4,4,5,6,6,6,7,7,7,7,4,5 |
sort-object | get-unique
Using the Sort-Object cmdlet, you'll get the following return:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Q. How can I use Windows PowerShell to
quickly check whether a particular year is a leap
year?
by John
Savill
4.18.08
A. The DateTime library has an isleapyear
function to quickly check whether a designated year is a leap year. If
the year is a leap year, a true value will return, and if not, a false
value will return. The following example uses the DateTime library to
check whether 2008 is a leap year:
Users\john.SAVILLTECH> [system.datetime]::isleapyear(2008)
The return is:
True
The following command checks whether 2009 is a leap year:
Users\john.SAVILLTECH> [system.datetime]::isleapyear(2009)
The return is:
False
To see all the members of system.datetime, pass the class to the
Get-Member cmdlet, as follows:
[system.datetime] | get-member
You can use this technique to check members with any PowerShell class or
object. It's a great way to determine an object's properties and
actions.
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