CODEWITHSUNDEEP
arrayspowershellobjecthashtablepowershell-2.0
Teknowledgist
Teknowledgist

Reputation: 403

Can I create a custom PowerShell object with an array property?

Warning: I am looking to do this in PowerShell v2 (sorry!).

I would like to have a custom object (possibly created as a custom type) that has an array property. I know how to make a custom object with "noteproperty" properties:

$person = new-object PSObject
$person | add-member -type NoteProperty -Name First -Value "Joe"
$person | add-member -type NoteProperty -Name Last -Value "Schmoe"
$person | add-member -type NoteProperty -Name Phone -Value "555-5555"

and I know how to make a custom object from a custom type:

Add-Type @"
  public struct PersonType {
    public string First;
    public string Last;
    public string Phone;
  }
"@

$person += New-Object PersonType -Property @{
      First = "Joe";
      Last = "Schmoe";
      Phone = "555-5555";
    }

How can I create a custom object with a type that includes an array property? Something like this hash table, but as an object:

$hash = @{
    First = "Joe"
    Last  = "Schmoe"
    Pets  = @("Fluffy","Spot","Stinky")
}

I'm pretty sure I can do this using [PSCustomObject]$hash in PowerShell v3, but I have a need to include v2.

Thanks.

Upvotes: 4

Views: 15734

Answers (1)

briantist
briantist

Reputation: 47802

When you use Add-Member to add your note properties, the -Value can be an array.

$person | add-member -type NoteProperty -Name Pets -Value @("Fluffy","Spot","Stinky")

If you want to create the properties as a hashtable first, like your example, you can pass that right into New-Object as well:

$hash = @{
    First = "Joe"
    Last  = "Schmoe"
    Pets  = @("Fluffy","Spot","Stinky")
}

New-Object PSObject -Property $hash

Your PersonType example is really written in C#, as a string, which gets compiled on the fly, so the syntax will be the C# syntax for an array property:

Add-Type @"
  public struct PersonType {
    public string First;
    public string Last;
    public string Phone;
    public string[] Pets;
  }
"@

Upvotes: 4

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