Write variables to existing CSV across columns

Question

This is a two part question about the limits of Out-File and turning string values into objects to use Export-CSV.

I am working on a script to pull various information and add it to an existing csv doc. I am currently using Out-File but I do no think it has the desired functionality.

$date, $computerName, $env:UserName, 'error' | Out-File $report -Append

The above adds all the data in a single column, for instance:

date
computername
username
error

I would like it to read:

date computername username error

I have tried using Export-CSV, but since my variables are strings it just writes the string length instead of the variable. I am happy to use Export-CSV with -Append so long as it reports the items correctly.

Bonus points if we can get the table to have headers like:

date computername username error
8/15/2018 A1 Bob PowerIssue
8/15/2018 A2 Tom InternetIssue

BenH · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-15 21:06:06Z

4

$date, $computerName, $env:UserName, 'error' is a collection which is getting converted to an array of strings. So then Out-File takes each element of that array and spits it out one element per line.

You could generate a single string. For example,

"$date, $computerName, $env:UserName, error" | Out-File $report -Append

But the better way would be to make an object then export that to csv. Here's an example using [pscustomobject] which requires PS3+

$ExampleObjects = @(
    [pscustomobject]@{
        Date         = Get-Date
        ComputerName = 'A1'
        UserName     = 'Bob'
        Error        = 'PowerIssue'
    },
    [pscustomobject]@{
        Date         = Get-Date
        ComputerName = 'A2'
        UserName     = 'Tom'
        Error        = 'InternetIssue'
    }
)

$ExampleObjects | Export-CSV $report -Append -NoTypeInformation

answered Aug 15, 2018 at 21:06

BenH

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1 Comment

Garrett Over a year ago

This works well. To all other readers, you can input variables in place of the specific items @BenH mentioned above ('A1', 'Bob' etc.). Thanks for the help, this is what I needed.

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