Powershell Sort-Object

Question

I have an Array of "xml-node" objects:

xml-node object:
    node <---------- this object is the one that has 3 other attributes (see below)
    path
    pattern

Node:
filename
modification
type

Problem:

I want to sort this array of xml-nodes based on the "modification" attribute; how would I go about it?

I've tried:

$nodes | sort-object Node.modification

Rynant · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-03 18:57:09Z

26

Use the property name only for sorting by the object's immediate properties.

$nodes | sort-object modification

You can also use a ScriptBlock to sort objects. So this would work as well:

$nodes | sort-object { $_.modification }

Obviously that is not very useful by itself, but if you want to sort the objects in some way other than simply the property, you can manipulate the properties inside the ScriptBlock.

For example to sort processes by the last chatacter in the process name.

get-process| sort-object { $_.name[-1] }

Edit:

To access a property's property:

$nodes | sort-object { $_.node.modification }

edited Mar 3, 2014 at 18:57

answered Mar 3, 2014 at 18:31

Rynant

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4 Comments

DotNet98 Over a year ago

sorry, I had to edit my question; the "modification" attribute is one level deeper; that's where I'm a bit stuck;

DotNet98 Over a year ago

Very helpful, thanks! so is it possible to get this as a sorted list; like, can I go: $x = $nodes | sort-object { $_.node.modification } or something to that effect (right now, $x is not sorted; I tried piping the result to a ... | select $_; that doesn't really work either?

Rynant Over a year ago

Yes, $x = $nodes | sort-object { $_.node.modification } should result in $x having the sorted list.

DotNet98 Over a year ago

You're absolutely right! Thanks Rynan. Plus one for you. I'll mark yours as answered; and post a complete sample example below just in case anyone else is wondering... thanks again!

DotNet98 · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-04 00:25:51Z

Here's a sample that proves Rynant's solution actually works:

cls

$node1 = New-Object PSObject
Add-Member -InputObject $node1 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name fileName -Value "textfile1.txt";  
Add-Member -InputObject $node1 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name fileType -Value "text";  
Add-Member -InputObject $node1 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name modification -Value "2014-02-24";  
$node2 = New-Object PSObject
Add-Member -InputObject $node2 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name fileName -Value "textfile2.txt";  
Add-Member -InputObject $node2 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name fileType -Value "text";  
Add-Member -InputObject $node2 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name modification -Value "2014-03-01";  
$node3 = New-Object PSObject
Add-Member -InputObject $node3 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name fileName -Value "textfile3.txt";  
Add-Member -InputObject $node3 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name fileType -Value "text";  
Add-Member -InputObject $node3 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name modification -Value "2014-02-21";  
$node4 = New-Object PSObject
Add-Member -InputObject $node4 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name fileName -Value "textfile4.txt";  
Add-Member -InputObject $node4 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name fileType -Value "text";  
Add-Member -InputObject $node4 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name modification -Value "2014-02-22";  

$result1 = New-Object PSObject
Add-Member -InputObject $result1 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Node -Value $node1;  
Add-Member -InputObject $result1 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Path -Value "aaa";  
Add-Member -InputObject $result1 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Pattern -Value "aaa/aaa[@aaa='aaa']";  

$result2 = New-Object PSObject
Add-Member -InputObject $result2 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Node -Value $node2;  
Add-Member -InputObject $result2 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Path -Value "bbb";  
Add-Member -InputObject $result2 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Pattern -Value "bbb/bbb[@bbb='bbb']";  

$result3 = New-Object PSObject
Add-Member -InputObject $result3 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Node -Value $node3;  
Add-Member -InputObject $result3 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Path -Value "ccc";  
Add-Member -InputObject $result3 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Pattern -Value "ccc/ccc[@ccc='ccc']";  

$result4 = New-Object PSObject
Add-Member -InputObject $result4 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Node -Value $node4;  
Add-Member -InputObject $result4 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Path -Value "ddd";  
Add-Member -InputObject $result4 -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Pattern -Value "ddd/ddd[@ddd='ddd']";  


$results = @()
$results += $result1
$results += $result2, $result3, $result4

$x = $results | sort-object { $_.Node.modification }; 
$y = $results | sort-object { $_.Node.modification } -desc; 

$x
$y

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