Format-Table on Array of Hash Tables

Question

How do you format an array of hash tables with the Format-Table cmdlet?

Example:

$table = @( @{ColumnA="Able";    ColumnB=1},
            @{ColumnA="Baker";   ColumnB=2},
            @{ColumnA="Charlie"; ColumnB=3} )
$table | Format-Table

Desired Output:

ColumnA                        ColumnB
----                           -----
Able                           1
Baker                          2
Charlie                        3

Actual Output:

Name                           Value
----                           -----
ColumnA                        Able
ColumnB                        1
ColumnA                        Baker
ColumnB                        2
ColumnA                        Charlie
ColumnB                        3

Vimes · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-12 20:04:57Z

99

Using Powershell V4:

$table = @( @{ColumnA="Able";    ColumnB=1},
            @{ColumnA="Baker";   ColumnB=2},
            @{ColumnA="Charlie"; ColumnB=3} )

$table | ForEach {[PSCustomObject]$_} | Format-Table -AutoSize


ColumnA ColumnB
------- -------
Able          1
Baker         2
Charlie       3

V2 solution:

$(foreach ($ht in $table)
 {new-object PSObject -Property $ht}) | Format-Table -AutoSize

edited Feb 12, 2019 at 20:04

Vimes

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answered Jan 1, 2014 at 23:59

mjolinor

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7 Comments

mjolinor Over a year ago

Do you need a V2-specific solution?

Joseph Sturtevant Over a year ago

It would be nice, but I can upgrade to V4 if that is what it takes. Can you do it in V2?

majkinetor Over a year ago

PS2 way shorter: $table| % { new-object PSObject -Property $_}

Rod Over a year ago

Adding Format-Table back to @majkinetor solution, makes formatting nicer $table| % { new-object PSObject -Property $_} | Format-Table -AutoSize

BrainSlugs83 Over a year ago

I found the provided foreach syntax a little awkward, but it pointed me in the right direction. -- I ended up using this syntax $table | % { [PSCustomObject]$_ } | Format-Table

|

AHaleIII · Accepted Answer · 2022-11-02 15:51:56Z

2

Discovered an alternative way of doing this:

$table | Select-Object -Property (
    $table.Keys | Group-Object | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name)

But compared to @mjolinor's answer, doing this is:

More verbose
Slower, by about an order of magnitude, based on quick test of 10,000 elements

Casting to [PSCustomObject] seems to be the right way to go.

answered Nov 2, 2022 at 15:51

AHaleIII

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