Windows PowerShell command on Get-command Import-Csv

NAME

Import-Csv

SYNOPSIS

Creates table-like custom objects from the items in a CSV file.

SYNTAX

Import-Csv [[-Path] ] [[-Delimiter] ] [-Encoding {Unicode | UTF7 | UTF8 | ASCII | UTF32 |

BigEndianUnicode | Default | OEM}] [-Header ] [-LiteralPath ] []

Import-Csv [[-Path] ] [-Encoding {Unicode | UTF7 | UTF8 | ASCII | UTF32 | BigEndianUnicode | Default |

OEM}] [-Header ] [-LiteralPath ] -UseCulture []

DESCRIPTION

The Import-Csv cmdlet creates table-like custom objects from the items in CSV files. Each column in the CSV file

becomes a property of the custom object and the items in rows become the property values. Import-Csv works on any

CSV file, including files that are generated by the Export-Csv cmdlet.

You can use the parameters of the Import-Csv cmdlet to specify the column header row and the item delimiter, or

direct Import-Csv to use the list separator for the current culture as the item delimiter.

You can also use the ConvertTo-Csv and ConvertFrom-Csv cmdlets to convert objects to CSV strings (and back). These

cmdlets are the same as the Export-CSV and Import-Csv cmdlets, except that they do not deal with files.

Beginning in Windows PowerShell 3.0, if a header row entry in a CSV file contains an empty or null value, Windows PowerShell inserts a default header row name and displays a warning message. In previous versions of Windows

PowerShell, if a header row entry in a CSV file contains an empty or null value, the Import-Csv command fails.

PARAMETERS

-Delimiter

Specifies the delimiter that separates the property values in the CSV file. The default is a comma (,). Enter a character, such as a colon (:). To specify a semicolon (;), enclose it in quotation marks.

If you specify a character other than the actual string delimiter in the file, Import-Csv cannot create

objects from the CSV strings. Instead, it returns the strings. Required? false Position? 1 Default value None Accept pipeline input? False Accept wildcard characters? false

-Encoding

Specifies the type of character encoding that was used in the CSV file. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

- Unicode

- UTF7

- UTF8

- ASCII

- UTF32

- BigEndianUnicode

- Default

- OEM

The default is ASCII. This parameter was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0. Required? false Position? named Default value None Accept pipeline input? False Accept wildcard characters? false

-Header

Specifies an alternate column header row for the imported file. The column header determines the names of the

properties of the object that Import-Csv creates.

Enter a comma-separated list of the column headers. Enclose each item in quotation marks (single or double).

Do not enclose the header string in quotation marks. If you enter fewer column headers than there are columns, the remaining columns will have no header. If you enter more headers than there are columns, the extra headers are ignored.

When using the Header parameter, delete the original header row from the CSV file. Otherwise, Import-Csv

creates an extra object from the items in the header row. Required? false Position? named Default value None Accept pipeline input? False Accept wildcard characters? false

-LiteralPath

Specifies the path to the CSV file to import. Unlike Path , the value of the LiteralPath parameter is used exactly as it is typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcards. If the path includes escape characters, enclose it in single quotation marks. Single quotation marks tell Windows PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences. Required? false Position? named Default value None

Accept pipeline input? True (ByPropertyName)

Accept wildcard characters? false

-Path

Specifies the path to the CSV file to import. You can also pipe a path to Import-Csv .

Required? false Position? 0 Default value None Accept pipeline input? True (ByValue) Accept wildcard characters? false

-UseCulture []

Indicates that this cmdlet uses the list separator for the current culture as the item delimiter. The default is a comma (,).

To find the list separator for a culture, use the following command: `(Get-Culture).TextInfo.ListSeparator`.

If you specify a character other than the delimiter used in the CSV strings, ConvertFrom-Csv cannot create

objects from the CSV strings. Instead, it returns the strings. Required? true Position? named Default value False Accept pipeline input? False Accept wildcard characters? false This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug, ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable, OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters (https:/go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113216).

INPUTS

System.String

You can pipe a string that contains a path to Import-Csv .

OUTPUTS

Object This cmdlet returns the objects described by the content in the CSV file.

NOTES

* Because the imported objects are CSV versions of the object type, they are not recognized and formatted by

the Windows PowerShell type formatting entries that format the non-CSV versions of the object type. The result

of an Import-Csv command is a collection of strings that form a table-like custom object. Each row is a

separate string, so you can use the Count * property of the object to count the table rows. The columns are

the properties of the object and items in the rows are the property values. The column header row determines the number of columns and the column names. The column names are also the names of the properties of the

objects. The first row is interpreted to be the column headers, unless you use the Header* parameter to

specify column headers. If any row has more values than the header row, the additional values are ignored. If

the column header row is missing a value or contains a null or empty value, Import-Csv * uses H followed by a

number for the missing column header and property name.

* In the CSV file, each object is represented by a comma-separated list of the property values of the object.

The property values are converted to strings (by using the ToString() method of the object), so they are

generally represented by the name of the property value. Export-Csv does not export the methods of the object.

Example 1: Import process objects

PS C:\>Get-Process | Export-Csv processes.csv

PS C:\>$P = Import-Csv processes.csv

PS C:\>$P | Get-Member

PS C:\>$P | Format-Table

TypeName: CSV:System.Diagnostics.Process

Name MemberType Definition

---- ---------- ----------

Equals Method System.Boolean Equals(Object obj) GetHashCode Method System.Int32 GetHashCode() GetType Method System.Type GetType() ToString Method System.String ToString() BasePriority NoteProperty System.String BasePriority=8 Company NoteProperty System.String Company=Microsoft Corporation ... This example shows how to export and then import a CSV file of process objects.

The first command uses the Get-Process cmdlet to get the processes on the local computer. It uses a pipeline

operator (|) to send the process objects to the Export-Csv cmdlet, which exports the process objects to the

Processes.csv file in the current directory.

The second command uses the Import-Csv cmdlet to import the processes in the Import-Csv file. Then it saves the

resulting process objects in the $P variable.

The third command uses a pipeline operator to pipe the imported objects to the Get-Member cmdlet. The result shows

that they are CSV:System.Diagnostic.Process objects, not the System.Diagnostic.Process objects that Get-Process

returns. Also, because there is no entry type in the formatting files for the CSV version of the process objects, these objects are not formatted in the same way that standard process objects are formatted.

To display the objects, use the formatting cmdlets, such as Format-Table and Format-List, or pipe the objects to

Out-GridView.

Example 2: Specify the delimiter

PS C:\>Get-Process | Export-Csv processes.csv -Delimiter :

PS C:\>$P = Import-Csv processes.csv -Delimiter :

This example shows how to use the Delimiter parameter of the Import-Csv cmdlet. In this example, the processes are

exported to a file that uses a colon (:) as a delimiter.

When importing, the Import-Csv file uses the Delimiter parameter to indicate the delimiter that is used in the

file.

Example 3: Specify the current culture for the delimiter

PS C:\>$P = Import-Csv processes.csv -UseCulture

PS C:\>(Get-Culture).textinfo.listseparator

This example shows how to use the UseCulture parameter of the Import-Csv cmdlet.

The first command imports the objects in the Processes.csv file into the $P variable. It uses the UseCulture

parameter to direct Import-Csv to use the list separator defined for the current culture.

The second command displays the list separator for the current culture. It uses the Get-Culture cmdlet to get the

current culture. It uses the dot (.) method to get the TextInfo property of the current culture and the ListSeparator property of the object in TextInfo. In this example, the command returns a comma.

Example 4: Change property names in an imported object

PS C:\>Start-Job -ScriptBlock { Get-Process } | Export-Csv jobs.csv

PS C:\>$Header = "MoreData", "StatusMessage", "Location", "Command", "State", "Finished", "InstanceId",

"SessionId", "Name", "ChildJobs", "Output", "Error", "Progress", "Verbose", "Debug", "Warning", "StateChanged"

# Delete header from file

PS C:\>$A = (Get-Content jobs.csv)

PS C:\>$A = $A[0], $A[2..($A.count - 1)]

PS C:\>$A > jobs.csv

PS C:\>$J = Import-Csv jobs.csv -Header $Header

PS C:\>$J

MoreData : True StatusMessage : Location : localhost

Command : get-process

State : Running

Finished : System.Threading.ManualResetEvent

InstanceId : 135bdd25-40d6-4a20-bd68-05282a59abd6

SessionId : 1

Name : Job1

ChildJobs : System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.Management.Automation.Job] Output : System.Management.Automation.PSDataCollection`1[System.Management.Automation.PSObject] Error : System.Management.Automation.PSDataCollection`1[System.Management.Automation.ErrorRecord] Progress : System.Management.Automation.PSDataCollection`1[System.Management.Automation.ProgressRecord] Verbose : System.Management.Automation.PSDataCollection`1[System.String] Debug : System.Management.Automation.PSDataCollection`1[System.String] Warning : System.Management.Automation.PSDataCollection`1[System.String]

StateChanged :

This example shows how to use the Header parameter of Import-Csv to change the names of properties in the

resulting imported object.

The first command uses the Start-Job cmdlet to start a background job that runs a Get-Process command on the local

computer. A pipeline operator (|) sends the resulting job object to the Export-Csv cmdlet, which converts the job

object to CSV format.

The second command saves a header in the $Header variable. Unlike the default header, this header uses MoreData

instead of HasMoreData and State instead of JobStateInfo.

The next three commands delete the original header (the second line) from the Jobs.csv file.

The sixth command uses the Import-Csv cmdlet to import the Jobs.csv file and convert the CSV strings into a CSV

version of the job object. The command uses the Header parameter to submit the alternate header. The results are

stored in the $J variable.

The seventh command displays the object in the $J variable. The resulting object has MoreData and State

properties, as shown in the command output.

Example 5: Create a custom object using a CSV file

PS C:\>Get-Content .\Links.csv

113207,about_Aliases113208,about_Arithmetic_Operators113209,about_Arrays113210,about_Assignment_Operators113212,

about_Automatic_Variables113213,about_Break113214,about_Command_Precedence113215,about_Command_Syntax144309, about_Comment_Based_Help113216,about_CommonParameters113217,about_Comparison_Operators113218,about_Continue113219,

about_Core_Commands113220,about_Data_Section�?� PS C:\>$A = Import-Csv -Path .\Links.csv -Header LinkID, TopicTitle

PS C:\> $A | Get-Member

TypeName: System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject

Name MemberType Definition

---- ---------- ----------

Equals Method bool Equals(System.Object obj) GetHashCode Method int GetHashCode()GetType Method type GetType()ToString Method string ToString()LinkID NoteProperty System.String LinkID=113207TopicTitle NoteProperty System.String

TopicTitle=about_Aliases PS C:\>$A | Where-Object TopicTitle -Like "alias"

LinkID TopicTitle

------ ----------

113207 about_Aliases

113432 Alias Provider

113296 Export-Alias

113306 Get-Alias

113339 Import-Alias

113352 New-Alias

113390 Set-Alias

This example shows how to create a custom object in Windows PowerShell by using a CSV file.

The first command uses the Get-Content cmdlet to get the Links.csv file.

The second command uses the Import-Csv cmdlet to import the Links.csv file. The command uses the Header parameter

to specify LinkId and TopicTitle as property names for the new custom objects. The command saves the imported

objects in the $A variable.

The third command uses the Get-Member cmdlet to get the type and members of the custom objects in the $A variable.

The output shows that Import-Csv returns a collection of custom objects ( PSCustomObject ). In addition to some

default properties, the custom objects have LinkID and TopicTitle note properties. This command shows that you can use the custom object like you would any object in Windows PowerShell.

The command pipes the custom objects in the $A variable to the Where-Object cmdlet, which gets only objects with a

TopicTitle property that includes alias.

The Where-Object command uses the new simplified command format that does not require symbols, script blocks, or

curly braces.

Example 6: Import a CSV that is missing a value

PS C:\>Get-Content "\\Server2\c$\Test\Projects.csv"

ProjectID, ProjectName,,Completed, Inventory, Redmond, True440, , FarEast, True, Marketing, Europe, False PS

C:\>Import-Csv "\\Server2\c$\Test\Projects.csv"

PS C:\>WARNING: One or more headers were not specified. Default names starting with "H" have been used in place of

any missing headers.

ProjectID ProjectName H1 Completed

--------- ----------- -- ---------

13 Inventory Redmond True 440 FarEast True

469 Marketing Europe False PS C:\>(Import-Csv "\\Server2\c$\Test\Projects.csv").H1

RedmondFarEastEurope

This example shows how the Import-Csv cmdlet in Windows PowerShell 3.0 responds when the header row in a CSV file

includes a null or empty value. Import-Csv substitutes a default name for the header row. The default name becomes

the name of the property of the object that Import-Csv returns.

The first command uses the Get-Content cmdlet to get the Projects.csv file on the Server02 remote computer. The

output shows that the header row of the file is missing a value between ProjectName and Completed.

The second command uses the Import-Csv cmdlet to import the Projects.csv file.

The output shows that Import-Csv generates a warning and substitutes a default name, H1, for the missing header

row value. H1 is also used for the name of the object property.