Help Using Add-Content to populare a .CSV file/

PowerShell Help
1

Hello,

I am trying to use the Add-Content Cmdlet to add variables input via Read-Host to an existing .csv file. I can get it working to an extent. The problem i have is that the variables don’t get appended to the correct column. Instead, each variable gets added to the first column in the .csv.

Function Input-UserDetail {
[CmdletBinding()]
Param(

[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true)][string]$Username,

[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true)][string]$FirstName, 

[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true)][string]$Surname, 

[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true)][string]$DispName, 

[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true)][string]$Desc, 

[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true)][string]$Title, 

[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true)][string]$Depar,

[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true)][string]$SamName,

[Parameter()][String]$Path = "C:\Holding\Scripts\Starter&LeaverScripts\NewADUser.csv"

     )

$Username = Read-Host "Enter Full name of new staff member (e.g. John Smith, Lady Grey, George Bush)"
$FirstName = Read-Host "Enter First name of new staff member"
$Surname = Read-Host "Enter Surname of new staff member"
$DispName = $Username
$Desc = Read-Host "Enter Job title of new staff member"
$Title = Read-Host "Enter Title of new staff member (Mr, Mrs, Miss etc)"
$Depar = Read-Host "Enter Department of new staff member"
$SamName = Read-Host "Enter Username name of new staff member in the format first initial and surname (e.g jsmith, lgrey, gbush)"

Get-testCSV
ForEach-Object{
$_.Username
$_.FirstName
$_.Surname
$_.DispName
$_.Title
$_.Depar
$_.SamName
               }
Add-Content -Path $Path -Value $Username,$FirstName,$Surname,$DispName,$Desc,$Title,$Depar,$SamName

                            }

This is my latest attempt. I have also tried these methods:

 Add-Content -Path $Path.Username -Value $Username

Where-Object $_.Username | Add-Content -Path $Path -Value $Username

Add-Content -Path $Path | Where-Object {$_.Username } | Set-Content $Username

-Path $Path | Where-Object {-Value 'Username'} | Input-UserDetail -Username $_.Username

They all get the same result as shown in the attatched .csv.

Any help greatly appreciated!

2

To answer the question, -Value is expecting a string and you are passing an array. So, you need to convert the Array to a string:

$Username = "jjohn"
$FirstName = "jim"
$Surname = "john"
$DispName = "Jim John"
$Desc = "A user"
$Title = "Worker Bee"
$Depar = "Marketing"
$samName = "jjohn"

$test = $Username,$FirstName,$Surname,$DispName,$Desc,$Title,$Depar,$SamName
$test.GetType() #returns System.Array
#you can use the $test variable and do a -join or something like this
@($Username,$FirstName,$Surname,$DispName,$Desc,$Title,$Depar,$SamName) -join ","
#or use string format...
$test = ("{0},{1},{2},{3},{4},{5},{6},{7}" -f $Username,$FirstName,$Surname,$DispName,$Desc,$Title,$Depar,$SamName)
$test.GetType() #returns System.String

You might consider a more “Powershelly” way of accomplishing this task. Leverage a Powershell object like this:

#Generate a sample CSV to play with
Get-Service -Name "*ws*" | Select Name, Status | Export-CSV C:\Test\test.csv
#Open an empty hash table object
$csv = @()
#Import an existing CSV
$csv = Import-CSV "C:\Test\test.csv"
#Append a new record to the object
$csv += New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property @{Name='AnotherService';Status="Exploded"}

$csv 
#Use Export-CSV to overwrite the existing CSV
$csv | Export-CSV C:\Test\test.csv
3

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your reply.

I understand what i was doing wrong now, i am using the method you suggested below. I didn’t realise -Value was expecting an array.

$test = ("{0},{1},{2},{3},{4},{5},{6},{7}" -f $Username,$FirstName,$Surname,$DispName,$Desc,$Title,$Depar,$SamName)

Thanks for all of the detailed comments and alternative ways of achieving the result, this is very helpful.

4

To be clear, -Value is expecting a STRING and you were passing an ARRAY. the $test variable is a String.Format that generates a STRING.

5

That’s what i meant, Monday brain fart!