Powershell custom append object to csv file

Question

I'm trying to output a custom object to a csv formatted text file as I loop through a for each. One object per line.

But nothing is written to the file.

Is it something with types to be converted ?

$rechten = Get-ADGroupMember -Identity $v -Recursive -ERRORACTION silentlycontinue | Get-ADUser -Property DisplayName -ERRORACTION silentlycontinue | Select-Object Name

Write-Host -ForegroundColor Yellow "ADgroup $v wordt uitgevlooid."

foreach ($rechtenhouder in $rechten) {
    $objResults = New-Object PSObject
    $objResults | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name DirectoryPath -Value $objPath
    $objResults | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Identity -Value    $rechtenhouder.name
    $objResults | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Systemrights -Value $accessRight.FileSystemRights
    $objResults | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name systemrightstype -Value $accessRight.accesscontroltype
    $objResults | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name isinherited -Value $accessRight.isinherited
    $objResults | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name inheritanceflags -Value $accessRight.inheritanceflags
    $objResults | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name rulesprotected -Value $objACL.areaccessrulesprotected
    $objResults | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Adtype -Value "User"

    $arrResults += $objResults
    Add-Content $exportpathtxtappend $objresults
}

Instead of writing hundreds of lines adding noteproperties, you could just create your object with $objResult = New-Object psobject @{DirectoryPath = $objPath; Identity = "and so on...."} — Clijsters
– Clijsters, Commented Nov 28, 2017 at 10:25
And don't use Add-Content for that. Export-CSV is your friend. — Clijsters
– Clijsters, Commented Nov 28, 2017 at 10:26
I wanted to use ac because if script is interrupted for what cause possible, I'd would have already some output in the file. — woef
– woef, Commented Nov 28, 2017 at 10:34

Brandon McClure · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-30 16:14:04Z

For your specific use exporting all objects at once or in batches would be the most efficient, but there are times were it would make sense to export a record one at a time to a CSV file which is what led me to this question, so I want to post my solution.

Use Export-CSV -Append to continually add to the end of a csv file.

foreach ($rechtenhouder in $rechten) {
    $objResults = New-Object PSObject -Property @{
        DirectoryPath    = $objPath;
        Identity         = $rechtenhouder.name;
        Systemrights     = $accessRight.FileSystemRights;
        systemrightstype = $accessRight.accesscontroltype;
        isinherited      = $accessRight.isinherited;
        inheritanceflags = $accessRight.inheritanceflags;
        rulesprotected   = $objACL.areaccessrulesprotected;
        Adtype           = "User";
    }

    $objResults | Export-CSV $csvPath -Append -NoTypeInformation
}

This is useful if you are continually polling at set time intervals, but less so if you are iterating over a collection of objects, just export them all at once. For example, I would use this method of exporting for a script like below:

while($true){
    $procs = Get-Process | Select-Object Name,CPU
    $procs | Add-Member -type NoteProperty -Name "Timestamp" -Value $(Get-Date)

    $procs | Export-CSV $csvPath -Append -NoTypeInformation

    sleep -Seconds 60
}

Clijsters · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-28 12:30:53Z

0

First, I suggest you to create your object in a decent smarter way:

foreach ($rechtenhouder in $rechten) {
    $objResults = New-Object PSObject -Property @{
        DirectoryPath    = $objPath;
        Identity         = $rechtenhouder.name;
        Systemrights     = $accessRight.FileSystemRights;
        systemrightstype = $accessRight.accesscontroltype;
        isinherited      = $accessRight.isinherited;
        inheritanceflags = $accessRight.inheritanceflags;
        rulesprotected   = $objACL.areaccessrulesprotected;
        Adtype           = "User";
    }
    $arrResults += $objResults
}

With this done, your $arrResults now contains your objects. This can easily exported to CSV files with PowerShells builtin Export-CSV:

$arrResults | Export-Csv -Path "C:/temp/text.csv"

Using Add-Content on every loop iteration is IMHO ineffective regarding performance. If your script runs for a long time and you want to save your current state in intervals, you could e.g. start an asynchronous job - let's say every 10th iteration - exporting your current array:

$i = 0
foreach ($rechtenhouder in $rechten) {
    $objResults = New-Object PSObject -Property @{
        DirectoryPath    = $objPath;
        Identity         = $rechtenhouder.name;
        Systemrights     = $accessRight.FileSystemRights;
        systemrightstype = $accessRight.accesscontroltype;
        isinherited      = $accessRight.isinherited;
        inheritanceflags = $accessRight.inheritanceflags;
        rulesprotected   = $objACL.areaccessrulesprotected;
        Adtype           = "User";
    }
    $arrResults += $objResults
    if ($i % 10 -eq 0) {
        Start-Job -ScriptBlock {
            param($T, $Path)
            $T | Export-Csv -Path $Path
        } -ArgumentList @($arrTest, "Path/to/script")
    }
    $i++
}

edited Nov 28, 2017 at 12:30

answered Nov 28, 2017 at 10:38

Clijsters

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3 Comments

woef Over a year ago

like that async job idea! I've never worked with start-job. Only one line is added in text.csv. I must be messing / missing in the scriptblock parameters. $arrResults | out-file $exportPathtxt did fil up as expeted another textfile.

Clijsters Over a year ago

Glad to hear! Please keep in mind - if the loop is faster than I expect, it's possible, that you must adjust every 10th job to every 20th job or so. If not, you'll run into concurrency issues. Also, don't forget to export after the loop a last time. If not, you'll miss some entries. Hope it helps.

Clijsters Over a year ago

I added a path argument to the scriptblock.

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