Is there a better way to add headers to CSV file using Powershell?

Question

Is there a more efficient way to add headers to CSV file rather than hard-coding them?

$Importfile = Import-csv $path$filename -header H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6, H7 #add headers to csv file

you can use Get-Content to load the 1st line of a file, split by the delimiter, count the items, and then use that to generate the header row. — Lee_Dailey
– Lee_Dailey, Commented Aug 15, 2019 at 1:41

Lee_Dailey · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-15 02:22:24Z

7

here's one way to auto-generate a header line for a CSV file that does not have one. it counts the items in the 1st line of the file to generate the header row. [grin]

$FileName = "$env:TEMP\Alex_-_Headerless.csv"
$Delimiter = ','

#region >>> create a headerless CSV file to work with
#    remove this section when you are ready to do stuff for real
$HeaderlessCSV = @'
1001, Jon, Smith, Anvil Inspector
2002, Bob, Archer, Bow Builder
3003, Mike, Carter, Wagon Designer
'@ | Set-Content -LiteralPath $FileName
#endregion >>> create a headerless CSV file to work with

$ColumnCount = @((Get-Content -LiteralPath $FileName -TotalCount 1).Split($Delimiter)).Count
$HeaderLine = foreach ($Index in 1..$ColumnCount)
    {
    'Col_{0}' -f $Index
    }

$InStuff = Import-Csv -Delimiter $Delimiter -Header $HeaderLine -LiteralPath $FileName

$InStuff

output ...

Col_1 Col_2 Col_3  Col_4          
----- ----- -----  -----          
1001  Jon   Smith  Anvil Inspector
2002  Bob   Archer Bow Builder    
3003  Mike  Carter Wagon Designer

answered Aug 15, 2019 at 2:22

Lee_Dailey

7,5292 gold badges25 silver badges27 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Alex Over a year ago

That's great. Thanks!

Lee_Dailey Over a year ago

@Alex - you are most welcome! glad to help a tad now & then ... [grin]

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Is there a better way to add headers to CSV file using Powershell?

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related