Import-Csv Powershell

Question

Code:

$Computers = Import-Csv -Path C:\temp\Computers.csv
write-host $Computers

CSV file (where US-1 is A1, US-2 is A2, and so on)

US-1
US-2
US-3
US-4

I believe Import-Csv is importing incorrectly because Write-Host $Computers gives me this:

@{US-1=US-2} @{US-1=US-3} @{US-1=US-4}

But if $Computers is assigned this way:

$Computers = "US-1", "US-2", "US-3", "US-4"

The output is correct:

US-1 US-2 US-3 US-4

So, I would need to import from a CSV for convenience but having each computer name saved the right way, without brackets or symbols. This makes using the computers names in the rest of my program very difficult.

EDIT: as discussed, I have correctly formatted the csv, which is now this:

Computers,
US-1
US-2
US-3
US-4

Now getting output:

@{Computers=US-1} @{Computers=US-2} @{Computers=US-3} @{Computers=US-4}

Default data type, most likely string, not sure. what you see if the entire test program I created for stack overflow — so1120
– so1120, Commented Oct 13, 2017 at 11:48
Import-csv interpreted the first record as a header, while you intended it to be data. Therefore, it decoded the csv data as one field, named US-1. See Jeff Zeitlin's answer below. — Walter Mitty
– Walter Mitty, Commented Oct 13, 2017 at 12:29

Walter Mitty · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-16 06:24:04Z

4

Simple CSV

Create your CSV (computers.csv):

Computer
US-1
US-2
US-3

Import your CSV:

$computers = Import-Csv Computers.csv

Access your values:

Write-Host $computers # This results to something like this: @{Computers=US-1} @{Computers=US-2} @{Computers=US-3} @{Computers=US-4}
# This is perfectly fine. It's all of your computer-objects

Access each value:

write-host $computers[n] # replace n with your index, starting at 0 to n-1
write-host $computers[1] # results in US-2

If only the computers are of interest you could do something like this:

write-host $computers.Computer # restults in US-1 US-2 US-3 US-4

Likewise for greater CSVs:

Computers, OperatingSystem
US-1, Windows
US-2, Linux
US-3, SomeOtherUnix
US-4, MacOS

Import your CSV:

$computers = Import-Csv Computers.csv

Access your values:

Write-Host $computers # This results to something like this: 
# @{Computers=US-1; OperatingSystem=Windows} @{Computers=US-2; OperatingSystem=Linux} @{Computers=US-3; OperatingSystem=SomeOtherUnix} @{Computers=US-4; OperatingSystem=MacOS}
# This is perfectly fine. It's all of your computer-objects

Access each value:

write-host $computers[n] # replace n with your index, starting at 0 to n-1
write-host $computers[1] # results in 

Computers OperatingSystem
--------- ---------------
US-1      Windows

If only the computers/OperatingSystems are of interest you could do something like this:

write-host $computers.Computers # restults in US-1 US-2 US-3 US-4
write-host $computers.OperatingSystem # restults in US-1 US-2 US-3 US-4

And so on... :)

edited Oct 16, 2017 at 6:24

Walter Mitty

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answered Oct 13, 2017 at 13:04

Akaino

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3 Comments

so1120 Over a year ago

what does comp mean? also i am using a for each loop later on so I can't refer to individual computers

so1120 Over a year ago

nvm, figured it out, my script works well now thanks!

Akaino Over a year ago

Ah my bad! I had $comp as my script variable insted of $computers. I'll edit my post for the sake of readability.

Jeff Zeitlin · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-13 12:46:54Z

2

Your CSV file is malformed; it has no header line. Either regenerate the file so that it has a header line, or use the -Header parameter to Import-CSV.

Once you have a correctly-formatted CSV (or have imported with a manually-supplied header), you will be able to reference $computers as an array of PSObjects, where each PSObject contains a member with the supplied name - for example, if you used

$Computers = Import-CSV -Header "RegionName" -Path C:\TEMP\Computers.CSV

then you could refer to the individual records as $Computers[$n].RegionName.

Following the edit to the original question, the correct way to access the individual items in the array would be $Computers[$n].Computers. To retrieve the computers from a text file as originally described, without needing to use field names, use Get-Content instead of Import-CSV.

edited Oct 13, 2017 at 12:46

answered Oct 13, 2017 at 12:07

Jeff Zeitlin

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5 Comments

so1120 Over a year ago

Hi, I have looked up a guide on creating csv headers and now my csv file looks like this:

Jeff Zeitlin Over a year ago

If you have changed your CSV, and are still having problems, update your question to reflect that - or ask a new question.

so1120 Over a year ago

yes sorry i hit enter for new line on the comment and it posted it, I edited my original post

Walter Mitty Over a year ago

Is the header "computer" singular or plural?

Jeff Zeitlin Over a year ago

@WalterMitty - your choice, but you need to reference it using whichever you use in the header. Your example made the header "computers", so that's how you'd have to reference the field in the resulting object.

Hemendr · Accepted Answer · 2022-09-15 22:49:20Z

0

Summery of what Akaino answered in short form!

edited Sep 15, 2022 at 22:49

answered Sep 15, 2022 at 22:38

Hemendr

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