How does formatting works with a PowerShell function that returns a set of elements?
- by Steve B
If I write this small function :
function Foo {
Get-Process | % { $_ }
}
And if I run
Foo
It displays only a small subset of properties:
PS C:\Users\Administrator> foo
Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) VM(M) CPU(s) Id ProcessName
------- ------ ----- ----- ----- ------ -- -----------
86 10 1680 412 31 0,02 5916 alg
136 10 2772 2356 78 0,06 3684 atieclxx
123 7 1780 1040 33 0,03 668 atiesrxx
...
...
But even if only 8 columns are shown, there are plenty of other properties (as foo | gm is showing).
What is causing this function to show only this 8 properties?
I'm actually trying to build a similar function that is returning complex objects from a 3rd party .Net library. The library is flatting a 2 level hierarchy of objects :
function Actual {
$someDotnetObject.ACollectionProperty.ASecondLevelCollection | % { $_ }
}
This method is dumping the objects in a list form (one line per property).
How can I control what is displayed, keeping the actual object available?
I have tried this :
function Actual {
$someDotnetObject.ACollectionProperty.ASecondLevelCollection | % { $_ } | format-table Property1, Property2
}
It shows in a console the expected table :
Property1 Property2
--------- ---------
ValA ValD
ValB ValE
ValC ValF
But I lost my objects. Running Get-Member on the result shows :
TypeName: Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.FormatStartData
Name MemberType Definition
---- ---------- ----------
Equals Method bool Equals(System.Object obj)
GetHashCode Method int GetHashCode()
GetType Method type GetType()
ToString Method string ToString()
autosizeInfo Property Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.AutosizeInfo autosizeInfo {get;set;}
ClassId2e4f51ef21dd47e99d3c952918aff9cd Property System.String ClassId2e4f51ef21dd47e99d3c952918aff9cd {get;}
groupingEntry Property Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.GroupingEntry groupingEntry {get;set;}
pageFooterEntry Property Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.PageFooterEntry pageFooterEntry {get;set;}
pageHeaderEntry Property Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.PageHeaderEntry pageHeaderEntry {get;set;}
shapeInfo Property Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.ShapeInfo shapeInfo {get;set;}
TypeName: Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.GroupStartData
Name MemberType Definition
---- ---------- ----------
Equals Method bool Equals(System.Object obj)
GetHashCode Method int GetHashCode()
GetType Method type GetType()
ToString Method string ToString()
ClassId2e4f51ef21dd47e99d3c952918aff9cd Property System.String ClassId2e4f51ef21dd47e99d3c952918aff9cd {get;}
groupingEntry Property Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.GroupingEntry groupingEntry {get;set;}
shapeInfo Property Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.ShapeInfo shapeInfo {get;set;}
Instead of showing the 2nd level child object members. In this case, I can't pipe the result to functions waiting for this type of argument.
How does Powershell is supposed to handle such scenario?
