Powershell insert CR in massive array

Question

I have a massive array of string characters that I would like to insert a carriage return every 10 characters.

For example, if my string array in Powershell is:

all_str_data = 02492340AF839e952DAB034B3D6DFCD029485DACCAEEFF...

I'd like the output to be:

all_str_data = 
02492340AF
839e952DAB
034B3D6DFC
D029485DAC
CAEEFF...

I'm eventually writing this to a file that I can use for a later step. Can someone help me here?

I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to Powershell. I haven't tried much yet and would love any additional help.

Define "massive". A few thousands? Okay, that's one option. A few billions? We might suggest something else. — Joel Coehoorn
– Joel Coehoorn, Commented Aug 30, 2024 at 17:08

Santiago Squarzon · Accepted Answer · 2024-08-30 18:06:21Z

6

One option can be to use -replace operator with regex, see https://regex101.com/r/6AoFuq/2 for details.

$all_str_data = '02492340AF839e952DAB034B3D6DFCD029485DACCAEEFF...'
$all_str_data -replace '(?<=\G.{10})(?!$)', "`r`n"

If you want a string array instead of a single multi-line string you can use the same regex but with -split:

$all_str_data -split '(?<=\G.{10})(?!$)'

answered Aug 30, 2024 at 17:10

Santiago Squarzon

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2 Comments

Works like a champ folks. Thanks so much for your help! The max this will be is on the order of a few million characters.

A solution without lookbehind assertion: regex101.com/r/Jw6lDP/1