Finding an item in an array

Question

$LogsPath = '\\someserver\somepath\*'
$LogsProperties = Get-ChildItem -Path $LogsPath -recurse |
Select-String -Pattern '[a-z]' |
Select-Object -Property Filename, Path, Line

$Array = @()
$LogsProperties | foreach {
$Array += $LogsProperties
}

The query above will create an array with the following values

(dashes are tabs/columns)

Filename--------------------------Path--------------------------------------------------------------Line

FName1 LName1.txt-----------\\someserver\somepath\FName1 LName1.txt-----------XXX Value
FName2 LName2.txt-----------\\someserver\somepath\FName1 LName1.txt-----------YYY Value
FName3 LName3.txt-----------\\someserver\somepath\FName1 LName1.txt-----------ZZZ Value

$Array[0]

Returns:

FName1 LName1.txt-----------\\someserver\somepath\FName1 LName1.txt-----------XXX Value

Can someone tell me how to search for the index of an element using a value

The function below doesn't work for me

$array.indexof('XXX Value')
0 <-- expected result, index of the array

and will return the error below

Method invocation failed because [System.Object[]] doesn't contain a method named 'indexof'. At line:20 char:15 + $array.indexof <<<< ('XXX Value') + CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (indexof:String) [], RuntimeException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : MethodNotFound

mklement0 · Accepted Answer · 2022-03-11 00:04:11Z

1

As pointed out in Maximilian Burszley's answer, $LogsProperties is already an array, whose elements are [pscustomobject] instances with properties FileName, Path, and Line.

(Your attempt to create $Array from $LogsProperties is not only unnecessary, but also broken, because the elements of $Array all end up referencing the array referenced by $LogsProperties as a whole.)

In order to use the .IndexOf() method on array instances^[1], PSv3+ is required. PSv3+ also allows you to use member-access enumeration, so you can apply .IndexOf() to $LogsProperties.Line in order to search the array of .Line property values:

$LogsProperties.Line.IndexOf('XXX Value') # -> 0

In PSv2 you can use a foreach loop to determine the index:

$i = 0
foreach ($obj in $LogsProperties) { if ($obj.Line -eq 'XXX Value') { break }; ++$i }
if ($i -eq $LogsProperties.Count) { $i = -1 }
# $i now contains the index of the matching element or -1, if not found.

^{[1] Type System.Array, the base type for all arrays, also has a static .IndexOf() method that is available in PSv2 too. However, given the need to search the .Line property values of the array elements of $LogProperties, that won't help here, unless a separate array with just the .Line property values is constructed first.}

edited Mar 11, 2022 at 0:04

answered Sep 10, 2018 at 1:58

mklement0

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2 Comments

Robert Cotterman Over a year ago

Utilizing the foreach loop, instead of break he could start another variable as such [string[]]$index += "$i" to create an array of index's that all contain the search criteria, instead of just the first one. (if that's his goal)... I would also put a $index = $null under $i = 0

mklement0 Over a year ago

Thanks, @RobertCotterman. Given that the OP tried to use .IndexOf(), which only ever returns the first match, I've restricted my foreach loop to the same behavior. In the same vein I've just added code to set $i to -1 if no match is found.

Maximilian Burszley · Accepted Answer · 2018-09-08 15:21:34Z

1

So your $logsProperties is already an array. You can filter using Where-Object or the Where array method:

$logsProperties = Get-ChildItem -Path \\someserver\somepath\* -Recurse |
    Select-String -Pattern '[a-z]' |
    Select-Object -Property FileName, Path, Line

Filtering:

$logsProperties | Where-Object Line -like '*xxx value*'

or:

$logsProperties.Where{$_.Line -like '*xxx value*'}

answered Sep 8, 2018 at 15:21

Maximilian Burszley

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3 Comments

Byron Madison Over a year ago

This returns the array value not the index of the result :(

Maximilian Burszley Over a year ago

@ByronMadison Why do you need the index?

Byron Madison Over a year ago

I want to call the value of the index, part of a wider plan for the script. I want to get the path and compare it to something else

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