PS - Import Export (CSV)

spiceuser-aq0j3 · 2021-01-14T13:07:13.000Z

I’m attempting to import some data in, pc names, check it for various things…run a couple of apps…then export a list of pc’s which fit what i’m looking for…Everything seems to work except that when i export the data, it shows up as Length = 10 everytime instead of the name of pc. Here’s an edited snipit of the troublesome bit. When attempting to pipe out $Name, it exports to the file, but this is what ends up in the file (the length of the pc name…all 7 pc names are 10 digits in length for the testing being done now):

#TYPE System.String Length 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

$ComputerNameALL = import-csv .\pcslimited.csv | select -expandproperty PC

write-host “Verifying PCs from List (This could take up to 30 min)”
write-host “”

Foreach ($Name in $ComputerNameALL)
{
if (test-connection $Name -count 1 -quiet)
{
if (@(get-adcomputer $name))
{
write-host $Name " Exists in AD and DNS"
$Name | export-csv C:\temp2\PCCheck\ComputersFound.csv -append #| select -expandproperty -header a
}
}
}

Evan7191 · 2021-01-14T14:06:06.000Z

Export-Csv is designed to export an object with properties to CSV. A string’s only property is Length, which is why your spreadsheet contains “Length 10.” You can use Out-File instead of Export-Csv. For example:

$ComputerNameALL = import-csv .\pcslimited.csv | select -expandproperty PC

write-host "Verifying PCs from List (This could take up to 30 min)"
write-host ""

Foreach ($Name in $ComputerNameALL) 
{ 
    if (test-connection $Name -count 1 -quiet) 
    {
         if (@(get-adcomputer $name))
        {
            write-host $Name " Exists in AD and DNS"
            $Name | Out-File C:\temp2\PCCheck\ComputersFound.csv -append
        }
    }
}

Also, please use the </> button in the toolbar to post code. That makes it easier to read than the plain-text format that Spiceworks uses.

Welcome to the community.

jitensh · 2021-01-14T14:09:43.000Z

Try,

$ComputerNameALL = import-csv .\pcslimited.csv | select -expandproperty PC
$data=Foreach ($Name in $ComputerNameALL)
{
    if (test-connection $Name -count 1 -quiet)
    {
         if (@(get-adcomputer $name))
        {
            write-host $Name " Exists in AD and DNS"
         
        }
    }
}

$data|export-csv c:\list.csv -NoTypeInformation

or

Ipcsv .\pcslimited.csv|%{if(Test-Connection $_.pc -Count 1){get-adcomputer $_.pc |select @{n='ExistsInAdDNS';e={$_.name}}|epcsv c:\exists.csv -Append -nti}}

Neally · 2021-01-14T15:50:36.000Z

Evan pretty much got you covered.

The issue is that the only property the string has is the length and export-csv needs more properties to export is successfully.

If you use EXPANDPROPERTY, it strips away ALL other properties, so you want to be careful with that.

In general, If you post code, please use the ‘Insert Code’ button. Please and thank you!

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spiceuser-aq0j3 · 2021-01-14T17:38:30.000Z

Thanks guys, i’ll use the code buttons in the future.

Whats odd to me is if i print out $name, using write-host, it prints out the correct name.

I was using the -expandproperty bit to skip the header when loading in the file. If i remove that, then it adds back in the @(pc=computername) and then when the foreach loop jumps in it can’t find the pc or ping anything out as it thinks the name of the pc is @(pc=computername) rather then “computername”. So can i presume there is a different way of pulling in data from a csv?

Something like…(removing -expandproperty)…Except i ended up in the same place.

$ComputerNameALL = import-csv .\pcslimited.csv 

write-host "Verifying PCs from List (This could take up to 30 min)"
write-host ""

Foreach ($Name in $ComputerNameALL) 
{ 
    
    if (test-connection $Name.PC -count 1 -quiet) 
    {
        
        if (@(get-adcomputer $name.PC))
        {
            write-host $Name.PC " Exists in AD" | export-csv .\ComputersFound.csv -append
            $Name.PC | export-csv C:\temp2\PCFix\ComputersFound.csv -append 
            
        }
    }
}

Write-host Output:
Verifying PCs from List (This could take up to 30 min)

computername1  Exists in AD
computername2  Exists in AD
computername3  Exists in AD

Export-CSV Output:
#TYPE System.String
Length
10
10
10

Neally · 2021-01-14T17:45:10.000Z

you can not combine ‘write-host’ and ‘export-csv’

write-host writes STRINGS to the host

export-csv needs an OBJECT

Neally · 2021-01-14T17:50:02.000Z

e.g.

$ComputerNameALL = import-csv .\pcslimited.csv 

write-Output "Verifying PCs from List (This could take up to 30 min)"

Foreach ($Name in $ComputerNameALL) { 
    if (test-connection $Name.PC -count 1 -quiet) {
        if (get-adcomputer $name.PC){
            write-output "$($Name.PC) - Exists in AD"
            $Name | select PC | export-csv C:\temp2\PCFix\ComputersFound.csv -append      
        }
    }
}

spiceuser-aq0j3 · 2021-01-14T18:33:06.000Z

Perfect sorry, have different versions of this and managed to leave that write-output bit in (which didn’t work the first time i ran it, so had removed it later on, but not for what i posted bleh.

I’ve added the:

$Name | select PC | export-csv C:\temp2\PCFix\ComputersFound.csv -append

$Name | select PC | export-csv C:\temp2\PCFix\ComputersFound.csv -append

That fixed my issue thanks guys!