Create a custom array with Powershell
I will describe in this post how to create a custom array with Powershell. With “custom array”, I mean array with custom column name.
In some case, you will probably need to build an array with different data sources.
Let’s take for example the following variables for the same user account “test_user” that came from different sources (AD, file, db, …) :
PS> $user="test_user" PS> $dn="OU=custom,DC=domain,DC=local" PS> $enabled="true" PS> $inactive="true"
Let’s create the array with the following custom column label : Username/ObjectDN/isEnabled/isInactive
PS> $array = @() PS> $Properties = @{Username=$user;ObjectDN=$dn;isEnabled=$enabled;isInactive=$inactive} PS> $Newobject = New-Object PSObject -Property $Properties PS> $array += $newobject PS> $array isEnabled isInactive Username ObjectDN --------- ---------- -------- -------- true true test_user OU=custom,DC=domain,DC=local
Reference
New-Object
Creates an instance of a Microsoft .NET Framework or COM object.
Syntax
Parameter Set: Net New-Object [-TypeName][[-ArgumentList]
Detailed Description
The New-Object cmdlet creates an instance of a .NET Framework or COM object.
You can specify either the type of a .NET Framework class or a ProgID of a COM object. By default, you type the fully qualified name of a .NET Framework class and the cmdlet returns a reference to an instance of that class. To create an instance of a COM object, use the ComObject parameter and specify the ProgID of the object as its value.
Parameters
-ArgumentList
Specifies a list of arguments to pass to the constructor of the .NET Framework class. Separate elements in the list by using commas (,). The alias for ArgumentList is Args.
Aliases | none |
Required? | false |
Position? | 2 |
Default Value | none |
Accept Pipeline Input? | false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? | false |
-ComObject
Specifies the programmatic identifier (ProgID) of the COM object.
Aliases | none |
Required? | true |
Position? | 1 |
Default Value | None |
Accept Pipeline Input? | false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? | false |
-Property
Sets property values and invokes methods of the new object.
Enter a hash table in which the keys are the names of properties or methods and the values are property values or method arguments. New-Object creates the object and sets each property value and invokes each method in the order that they appear in the hash table.
If the new object is derived from the PSObject class, and you specify a property that does not exist on the object, New-Object adds the specified property to the object as a NoteProperty. If the object is not a PSObject, the command generates a non-terminating error.
Aliases | none |
Required? | false |
Position? | named |
Default Value | none |
Accept Pipeline Input? | false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? | false |
-Strict
Generates a non-terminating error when a COM object that you attempt to create uses an interop assembly. This feature distinguishes actual COM objects from .NET Framework objects with COM-callable wrappers.
Aliases | none |
Required? | false |
Position? | named |
Default Value | False |
Accept Pipeline Input? | false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? | false |
-TypeName
Specifies the fully qualified name of the .NET Framework class. You cannot specify both the TypeName parameter and the ComObject parameter.
Aliases | none |
Required? | true |
Position? | 1 |
Default Value | none |
Accept Pipeline Input? | false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? | false |
This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Verbose, -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -OutBuffer, and -OutVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=113216).
Inputs
The input type is the type of the objects that you can pipe to the cmdlet.
- NoneYou cannot pipe input to this cmdlet.
Outputs
The output type is the type of the objects that the cmdlet emits.
- ObjectNew-Object returns the object that is created.
Notes
- New-Object provides the most commonly-used functionality of the VBScript CreateObject function. A statement like Set objShell = CreateObject(“Shell.Application”) in VBScript can be translated to $objShell = New-Object -COMObject “Shell.Application” in Windows PowerShell.New-Object expands upon the functionality available in the Windows Script Host environment by making it easy to work with .NET Framework objects from the command line and within scripts.
Examples
————————– EXAMPLE 1 ————————–
This command creates a System.Version object. It uses a “1.2.3.4” string as the constructor.
PS C:\> New-Object -TypeName System.Version -ArgumentList "1.2.3.4"
Major Minor Build Revision ----- ----- ----- -------- 1 2 3 4
————————– EXAMPLE 2 ————————–
This command creates an instance of the COM object that represents the Internet Explorer application. The value of the Property parameter is a hash table that calls the Navigate2 method and sets the Visible property of the object to $true to make the application visible.
This command is the equivalent of the following:
$ie = New-Object -COMObject InternetExplorer.Application
$ie.Navigate2(“www.microsoft.com”)
$ie.Visible = $true
PS C:\> $ie = New-Object -COMObject InternetExplorer.Application -Property @{Navigate2="www.microsoft.com"; Visible = $true}
————————– EXAMPLE 3 ————————–
This example demonstrates that adding the Strict parameter causes the New-Object cmdlet to generate a non-terminating error when the COM object uses an interop assembly.
PS C:\> $a=New-Object -COMObject Word.Application -Strict -Property @{Visible=$true}
New-Object : The object written to the pipeline is an instance of the type "Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.ApplicationClass" from the component's primary interop assembly. If this type exposes different members than the IDispatch members, scripts written to work with this object might not work if the primary interop assembly is not installed. At line:1 char:14 + $a=New-Object <<<< -COM Word.Application -Strict; $a.visible=$true
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------
This example shows how to create and use a COM object to manage your Windows desktop.
The first command uses the ComObject parameter of the New-Object cmdlet to create a COM object with the "Shell.Application" ProgID. It stores the resulting object in the $objShell variable.
PS C:\> $objshell = New-Object -COMObject "Shell.Application"
The second command pipes the $objShell variable to the Get-Member cmdlet, which displays the properties and methods of the COM object. Among the methods is the ToggleDesktop method.
PS C:\> $objshell | Get-Member
TypeName: System.__ComObject#{866738b9-6cf2-4de8-8767-f794ebe74f4e} Name MemberType Definition ---- ---------- ---------- AddToRecent Method void AddToRecent (Variant, string) BrowseForFolder Method Folder BrowseForFolder (int, string, int, Variant) CanStartStopService Method Variant CanStartStopService (string) CascadeWindows Method void CascadeWindows () ControlPanelItem Method void ControlPanelItem (string) EjectPC Method void EjectPC () Explore Method void Explore (Variant) ExplorerPolicy Method Variant ExplorerPolicy (string) FileRun Method void FileRun () FindComputer Method void FindComputer () FindFiles Method void FindFiles () FindPrinter Method void FindPrinter (string, string, string) GetSetting Method bool GetSetting (int) GetSystemInformation Method Variant GetSystemInformation (string) Help Method void Help () IsRestricted Method int IsRestricted (string, string) IsServiceRunning Method Variant IsServiceRunning (string) MinimizeAll Method void MinimizeAll () NameSpace Method Folder NameSpace (Variant) Open Method void Open (Variant) RefreshMenu Method void RefreshMenu () ServiceStart Method Variant ServiceStart (string, Variant) ServiceStop Method Variant ServiceStop (string, Variant) SetTime Method void SetTime () ShellExecute Method void ShellExecute (string, Variant, Variant, Variant, Variant) ShowBrowserBar Method Variant ShowBrowserBar (string, Variant) ShutdownWindows Method void ShutdownWindows () Suspend Method void Suspend () TileHorizontally Method void TileHorizontally () TileVertically Method void TileVertically () ToggleDesktop Method void ToggleDesktop () TrayProperties Method void TrayProperties () UndoMinimizeALL Method void UndoMinimizeALL () Windows Method IDispatch Windows () WindowsSecurity Method void WindowsSecurity () WindowSwitcher Method void WindowSwitcher () Application Property IDispatch Application () {get} Parent Property IDispatch Parent () {get}
The third command calls the ToggleDesktop method of the object to minimize the open windows on your desktop.
PS C:\> $objshell.ToggleDesktop()