Stop powershell script counting after it gets to three

Question

I have a script that counts how many times a certain word occurs within a file. With the file it keeps adding words and each time the powershell is suppose to count the occurance. However I want to it stop counting once its identified a specific word has been added three times eg:

apple apple apple banana banana apple

I want it to stop counting once its identified apple 3 times and not count it as 4. this is the powershell script that i'm using :

    $ht=@{}
$Output=switch(gc c:\temp\LimitCount.txt){ {($ht.values|sort -Descending|select -first 1) -eq 3}{break}
 {$_ -match '^. +user:(.+)$' -and [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($ht.(([regex]"^(?:. +user:)(.+)$").matches($_).groups[1].value))}{$ht.(([regex]"^(?:. +user:)(.+)$").matches($_).groups   [1].value)=0}
 {$_ -match '^. +user:(.+)$' -and $ht.(([regex]"^(?:. +user:)(.+)$").matches($_).groups[1].value) -eq 3}{continue}
{$_ -match '^. +user:(.+)$'}{$ht.(([regex]"^(?:. +user:)(.+)$").matches($_).groups[1].value)++;([regex]"^(?:. +user:)(.+)$").matches($_).groups[1].value;continue}
 default {$_}
}
"Unfiltered results and count:"
$output|group -NoElement
$output|Where{$ht.keys -contains $_}|group -NoElement

Stop for that specific word, or stop entirely?

TheMadTechnician
– TheMadTechnician

2014-09-25 22:06:10 +00:00
Commented Sep 25, 2014 at 22:06 — TheMadTechnician
– TheMadTechnician, Commented Sep 25, 2014 at 22:06

TheMadTechnician · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-25 23:13:41Z

2

So you didn't respond to my comment, but we'll assume you want no more than 3 of any single match. What I will do is make an empty hashtable, and run a Switch command on the contents of the file and capture the results in an array

The first validation will check if the string matches the regex, and if that matched text is already in the hashtable. If it does match, and is not in the hashtable it adds it to the hashtable.

The second validation checks if the string matches the regex, and if the hashtable entry is equal to 3. If it is then it skips to the next line of the text file.

The third validation simply checks if the string matches the regex, and if it does it increments the hashtable entry for that match by one, and passes the matched text.

The fourth validation is the default, and if no other validation occurs then it simply passes the line along un-altered.

Then you can output that array, or filter it for only things that matched your regex. The code would look something like this:

$ht=@{}
$Output=switch(gc c:\temp\test.txt){
    {$_ -match '^. +user:(.+)$' -and [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($ht.(([regex]"^(?:. +user:)(.+)$").matches($_).groups[1].value))}{$ht.(([regex]"^(?:. +user:)(.+)$").matches($_).groups[1].value)=0}
    {$_ -match '^. +user:(.+)$' -and $ht.(([regex]"^(?:. +user:)(.+)$").matches($_).groups[1].value) -eq 3}{continue}
    {$_ -match '^. +user:(.+)$'}{$ht.(([regex]"^(?:. +user:)(.+)$").matches($_).groups[1].value)++;([regex]"^(?:. +user:)(.+)$").matches($_).groups[1].value;continue}
    default {$_}
}
"Unfiltered results and count:"
$output|group -NoElement
"Filtered for only matched items:"
$output|Where{$ht.keys -contains $_}|group -NoElement

Given an input of:

A user:Apple
A user:Apple
A user:Banana
Shiney tacos!
A user:Orange
A user:Banana
A user:Apple
A user:Orange
A user:Orange
A user:Apple
A user:Apple
A user:Apple
A user:Apple
A user:Apple

You get an output of:

Unfiltered results and count:
Count Name                     
----- ----                     
    3 Apple                    
    2 Banana                   
    1 Shiney tacos!            
    3 Orange                   
Filtered for only matched items:
    3 Apple                    
    2 Banana                   
    3 Orange

If you want to stop once you reach 3 of any match you can add the following line immediately before the first validation:

    {($ht.values|sort -Descending|select -first 1) -eq 3}{break}

answered Sep 25, 2014 at 23:13

TheMadTechnician

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9 Comments

irenetate Over a year ago

thank you sorry for responding late, this is what i wanted to stop after it matches more than 3 for each

irenetate Over a year ago

how can i modify the code so it only counts up to 3 and stop instead of creating a new user with the same name. e.g. i have 4 apples and its counting as 3 apples then on a new line it counts the other apple as 1 apple. but i only want one outcome for apple as in: 3 apples and stops there?

TheMadTechnician Over a year ago

This doesn't go past 3 for anything, so I don't understand your question.

irenetate Over a year ago

Sorry i dont think i explained clearly so it doesnt go past 3 instead in creates another user for apple on a new line. So i have apple, apple, apple, apple. The outcome is 3 user apple, 1 user apple. I dont want it to have the additional 1 user apple...does this make sense?

TheMadTechnician Over a year ago

You will have to update your question with your code. What you are saying doesn't make sense without code to reference.

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