# How to read and parse a text file **URL:** \ **Category:** PowerShell Help\ **Created:** [August 12, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682 "2015-08-12T23:37:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/1 "2015-08-12T23:37:10Z")
I have a text file in which data is in below given format. Its a text delimited file with 10000 lines of data. Main columns are given below though there are many more columns. Supplier\_Name|Supplier\_Address\_1|Supplier\_Postcode|VAT\_Reg ACCOMMODATION|P O Box 123|3404|11009341296 PROVIDERS|P O Box 543|6704|451895748 this is a file format … now through powershell script I want to see only those Supplier VAT\_Reg id’s those are below 11 digit. Kindly guide me how to do this through script as i am new in this field. Thanks Ankit ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/powershell/original/1X/385e4f9fe133561ad30a814262fe0e0ae6bc3ef0.png) [@system](https://forums.powershell.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/2 "2015-08-12T23:47:51Z")
That’s a delimited text file, which is very easy to read in PowerShell with the Import-Csv cmdlet. (Even though it’s not a comma-delimited file, there’s a parameter which lets you switch that). Try this: ``` Import-Csv -Path c:\path\to\your\file.txt -Delimiter '|' | Where-Object { $_.VAT_Reg.Length -lt 11 } ``` ---
**Author:** ![christopher-wolfende](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@christopher-wolfende](https://forums.powershell.org/u/christopher-wolfende)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/3 "2015-08-12T23:51:56Z")
Are you just looking to see a column of VAT\_Reg numbers? EDIT: Sorry read to quick and missed the the piece about less than 11 digits ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/4 "2015-08-13T00:28:09Z")
@ Dave - I am trying to run your code but it is not giving me any output. I gave my file path where my file is placed but it is showing nothing on executing. ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/5 "2015-08-13T00:29:41Z")
@chris - Yes I want to see the VAT\_reg column with the all other columns name for that particular supplier whose VAT\_Reg id is below than 11 digit. ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/6 "2015-08-13T00:54:25Z")
@Dave - Its working now… but it is showing results for all supplier’s but my requirement is to see only result for those supplier’s whose VAT\_Reg id is below then 11 digit… It is giving result in below format - Party\_Identification\_No : Company\_Number : Company\_Name : Supplier\_Number : SSD0040271 Supplier\_Name : PROVIDERS Supplier\_Address\_1 : Supplier\_Address\_2 : Supplier\_Address\_3 : Supplier\_Postcode : VAT\_Reg : 2611341208 Bank\_Account\_Number\_1 : Bank\_Account\_Number\_2 : Bank\_Account\_Number\_3 : Bank\_Account\_Number\_4 : Bank\_Account\_Number\_5 : Bank\_Account\_Number\_6 : Bank\_Account\_Number\_7 : Bank\_Account\_Number\_8 : IBAN\_Number : Swift\_Code\_1 : Swift\_Code\_2 : Supplier\_EDI\_ID : Currency : AUD ---
**Author:** ![rob-simmers](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forums.powershell.org/rob-simmers/32/1010_2.png) [@rob-simmers](https://forums.powershell.org/u/rob-simmers)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/7 "2015-08-13T02:19:50Z")
Please post your current command you are running. Dave’s command should do what you are asking, so we would need to look at the command you are running. ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/8 "2015-08-13T03:22:22Z")
Hi Rob, This is the command what i am running on my workstation. Import-Csv -Path C:\Users\ankit\Downloads\SC\SupplierExtract.txt -Delimiter ‘|’ | Where-Object { $\_.VAT\_Reg.Length -lt 11 } I have gave path with and without single quotes but both time giving the same results. Thanks Ankit ---
**Author:** ![rob-simmers](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forums.powershell.org/rob-simmers/32/1010_2.png) [@rob-simmers](https://forums.powershell.org/u/rob-simmers)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/9 "2015-08-13T04:02:58Z")
Ok, so let’s troubleshoot and see what is going on. When importing from a CSV, everything is typically a string, which contains Length property. If for some reason the value is being converted to a different type, (e.g. int) it could be causing your issue. Try running this and see what the output is: ``` Import-Csv -Path C:\Users\ankit\Downloads\SC\SupplierExtract.txt -Delimiter '|' | foreach{ "VAT_Reg {0} is {1} characters long and is type {2}" -f $_.VAT_Reg,$_.VAT_Reg.Length, $_VAT_Reg.GetType().Name) ``` ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 11:51am UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/10 "2015-08-13T11:51:34Z")
Hi Simmers, Apologies for the late reply… I just stuck with this site login problem and it was late night too… really its a weird site… Anyhow i executed your given query but again its giving error You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression. At line:1 char:195 I tried to execute this query with both curly braces and parenthesis. In your code you have started with curly braces and end up with parenthesis so on running first time its giving error so I have run with both the parameters. Thanks Ankit ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/powershell/original/1X/385e4f9fe133561ad30a814262fe0e0ae6bc3ef0.png) [@system](https://forums.powershell.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/11 "2015-08-13T11:54:22Z")
Try this, as a troubleshooting step. Please post the output here: ``` Import-Csv -Path C:\Users\ankit\Downloads\SC\SupplierExtract.txt -Delimiter '|' | Get-Member ``` ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/12 "2015-08-13T13:04:27Z")
Hi Dave, Please find the below given output… Thanks 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() Bank\_Account\_Number\_1 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_1= Bank\_Account\_Number\_2 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_2= Bank\_Account\_Number\_3 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_3= Bank\_Account\_Number\_4 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_4= Bank\_Account\_Number\_5 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_5= Bank\_Account\_Number\_6 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_6= Bank\_Account\_Number\_7 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_7= Bank\_Account\_Number\_8 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_8= Company\_Name NoteProperty System.String Company\_Name= Company\_Number NoteProperty System.String Company\_Number= Currency NoteProperty System.String Currency= IBAN\_Number NoteProperty System.String IBAN\_Number= Party\_Identification\_No NoteProperty System.String Party\_Identification\_No= Supplier\_Address\_1 NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Address\_1= Supplier\_Address\_2 NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Address\_2= Supplier\_Address\_3 NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Address\_3= Supplier\_EDI\_ID NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_EDI\_ID= Supplier\_Name NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Name=UNKNOWN\_SUPPLIER Supplier\_Number NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Number=00000 Supplier\_Postcode NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Postcode= Swift\_Code\_1 NoteProperty System.String Swift\_Code\_1= Swift\_Code\_2 NoteProperty System.String Swift\_Code\_2= VAT\_Reg NoteProperty System.String VAT\_Reg= Thanks Ankit ---
**Author:** ![curtis-smith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forums.powershell.org/curtis-smith/32/121_2.png) [@curtis-smith](https://forums.powershell.org/u/curtis-smith)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 1:05pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/13 "2015-08-13T13:05:06Z")
Ankit, Dave’s code should absolutely do the trick. I copied and pasted your data from the original question into a file called “input.txt”, then ran Dave’s online against it. It seemed to do the trick quite nicely. Here is the Import-Csv before filtering out the ones longer than 11 characters ` PS F:\temp\Powershell> Import-Csv input.txt -delimiter '|' Supplier_Name Supplier_Address_1 Supplier_Postcode VAT_Reg ` `ACCOMMODATION P O Box 123 3404 11009341296 PROVIDERS P O Box 543 6704 451895748 ` And here it is after applying the where-object to only get those with less than 11 characters ` PS F:\temp\Powershell> Import-Csv input.txt -delimiter '|' | Where-Object {$_.VAT_Reg.Length -lt 11} Supplier_Name Supplier_Address_1 Supplier_Postcode VAT_Reg ` `PROVIDERS P O Box 543 6704 451895748 ` ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/14 "2015-08-13T13:20:03Z")
@Dave - Here is the below output by the command you have given…Thanks 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() Bank\_Account\_Number\_1 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_1= Bank\_Account\_Number\_2 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_2= Bank\_Account\_Number\_3 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_3= Bank\_Account\_Number\_4 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_4= Bank\_Account\_Number\_5 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_5= Bank\_Account\_Number\_6 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_6= Bank\_Account\_Number\_7 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_7= Bank\_Account\_Number\_8 NoteProperty System.String Bank\_Account\_Number\_8= Company\_Name NoteProperty System.String Company\_Name= Company\_Number NoteProperty System.String Company\_Number= Currency NoteProperty System.String Currency= IBAN\_Number NoteProperty System.String IBAN\_Number= Party\_Identification\_No NoteProperty System.String Party\_Identification\_No= Supplier\_Address\_1 NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Address\_1= Supplier\_Address\_2 NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Address\_2= Supplier\_Address\_3 NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Address\_3= Supplier\_EDI\_ID NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_EDI\_ID= Supplier\_Name NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Name=UNKNOWN\_SUPPLIER Supplier\_Number NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Number=00000 Supplier\_Postcode NoteProperty System.String Supplier\_Postcode= Swift\_Code\_1 NoteProperty System.String Swift\_Code\_1= Swift\_Code\_2 NoteProperty System.String Swift\_Code\_2= VAT\_Reg NoteProperty System.String VAT\_Reg= Thanks Ankit ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/15 "2015-08-13T13:49:14Z")
@Curtis @Dave - Your script is right. I am sorry… I am wrong…I also made one dummy text delimited file and insert only below values to it and it fetched the actual output from the file i.e. only for “PROVIDERS” Supplier\_Name Supplier\_Address\_1 Supplier\_Postcode VAT\_Reg * * * ACCOMMODATION P O Box 123 3404 11009341296 PROVIDERS P O Box 543 6704 451895748 But the issue is that is my real file have data of more than 10,000 of suppliers and it has in some different format… What I mean to say is that it has some blank delimited columns also. Might be because of that it is not picking up the right output over there. Could you please share with me your mail id’s so that I can share the data with you to sort out the issue. Thanks Ankit ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/16 "2015-08-13T13:54:51Z")
@Curtis @Dave - My data is like in below given format in actual file - First row are columns name and then after that I have copied 3 rows of supplier data. Party\_Identification\_No|Company\_Number|Company\_Name|Supplier\_Number|Supplier\_Name|Supplier\_Address\_1|Supplier\_Address\_2|Supplier\_Address\_3|Supplier\_Postcode|VAT\_Reg|Bank\_Account\_Number\_1|Bank\_Account\_Number\_2|Bank\_Account\_Number\_3|Bank\_Account\_Number\_4|Bank\_Account\_Number\_5|Bank\_Account\_Number\_6|Bank\_Account\_Number\_7|Bank\_Account\_Number\_8|IBAN\_Number|Swift\_Code\_1|Swift\_Code\_2|Supplier\_EDI\_ID|Currency |||00000|UNKNOWN\_SUPPLIER|||||||||||||||||| |||VN0000001|ACOMMODATION LINEN|P O Box 445|MARRICKVILLE|accounts@alinen.com.au|2204|86001098095|||||||||||||AUD |||VN0000008|AIR LIQUIDE|P O Box 2092|FORTITUDE VALLEY BC|ALHaccounts@airliquide.com|4006|99852644702|||||||||||||AUD Thanks Ankit ---
**Author:** ![curtis-smith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forums.powershell.org/curtis-smith/32/121_2.png) [@curtis-smith](https://forums.powershell.org/u/curtis-smith)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/17 "2015-08-13T14:07:12Z")
The exact same command works on this new dataset. Here is the dataset before it is filtered: ` PS F:\temp\Powershell> Import-Csv input.txt -delimiter '|' Party_Identification_No : Company_Number : Company_Name : Supplier_Number : 00000 Supplier_Name : UNKNOWN_SUPPLIER Supplier_Address_1 : Supplier_Address_2 : Supplier_Address_3 : Supplier_Postcode : VAT_Reg : Bank_Account_Number_1 : Bank_Account_Number_2 : Bank_Account_Number_3 : Bank_Account_Number_4 : Bank_Account_Number_5 : Bank_Account_Number_6 : Bank_Account_Number_7 : Bank_Account_Number_8 : IBAN_Number : Swift_Code_1 : Swift_Code_2 : Supplier_EDI_ID : Currency : Party_Identification_No : Company_Number : Company_Name : Supplier_Number : VN0000001 Supplier_Name : ACOMMODATION LINEN Supplier_Address_1 : P O Box 445 Supplier_Address_2 : MARRICKVILLE Supplier_Address_3 : accounts@alinen.com.au Supplier_Postcode : 2204 VAT_Reg : 86001098095 Bank_Account_Number_1 : Bank_Account_Number_2 : Bank_Account_Number_3 : Bank_Account_Number_4 : Bank_Account_Number_5 : Bank_Account_Number_6 : Bank_Account_Number_7 : Bank_Account_Number_8 : IBAN_Number : Swift_Code_1 : Swift_Code_2 : Supplier_EDI_ID : Currency : AUD ` `Party_Identification_No : Company_Number : Company_Name : Supplier_Number : VN0000008 Supplier_Name : AIR LIQUIDE Supplier_Address_1 : P O Box 2092 Supplier_Address_2 : FORTITUDE VALLEY BC Supplier_Address_3 : ALHaccounts@airliquide.com Supplier_Postcode : 4006 VAT_Reg : 99852644702 Bank_Account_Number_1 : Bank_Account_Number_2 : Bank_Account_Number_3 : Bank_Account_Number_4 : Bank_Account_Number_5 : Bank_Account_Number_6 : Bank_Account_Number_7 : Bank_Account_Number_8 : IBAN_Number : Swift_Code_1 : Swift_Code_2 : Supplier_EDI_ID : Currency : AUD ` And here is the data set filters for VAT\_Reg values less than 11 characters in length. Only 1 of the 3 records is returned, and it’s returned because because the VAT\_Reg field for that record contains no value. In reality, your dataset has a bunch of fields in the records that have no value in them. ` PS F:\temp\Powershell> Import-Csv input.txt -delimiter '|' | Where-Object {$_.VAT_Reg.Length -lt 11} ` `Party_Identification_No : Company_Number : Company_Name : Supplier_Number : 00000 Supplier_Name : UNKNOWN_SUPPLIER Supplier_Address_1 : Supplier_Address_2 : Supplier_Address_3 : Supplier_Postcode : VAT_Reg : Bank_Account_Number_1 : Bank_Account_Number_2 : Bank_Account_Number_3 : Bank_Account_Number_4 : Bank_Account_Number_5 : Bank_Account_Number_6 : Bank_Account_Number_7 : Bank_Account_Number_8 : IBAN_Number : Swift_Code_1 : Swift_Code_2 : Supplier_EDI_ID : Currency : ` ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/18 "2015-08-13T14:10:35Z")
Yes @Smith you are right… that’s why I have copy pasted some of the data in this blog… hope you have seen it… Please have a look and kindly suggest how to do in this case? Thanks Ankit ---
**Author:** ![curtis-smith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forums.powershell.org/curtis-smith/32/121_2.png) [@curtis-smith](https://forums.powershell.org/u/curtis-smith)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/19 "2015-08-13T14:25:12Z")
Ankit, I don’t understand. Has the question changed? As I understand the current question it is how do you show all the records where the VAT\_Reg value is less than 11 characters in length for your dataset. I believe we have have already shown how to do that. Put your data in a file and then use the command supplied to show only the records with less than 11 characters. I’m not sure what more you are trying to accomplish. ---
**Author:** ![ankit-parmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@ankit-parmar](https://forums.powershell.org/u/ankit-parmar)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682/20 "2015-08-13T14:37:18Z")
@Curtis - Sorry If i am wrong because i am newbie in PowerShell and not experts like you but the command you have given me that is showing that Suppliers name also in output which have VAT\_Reg id’s with blank values. I don’t want to see the suppliers in output with blank VAT\_Reg id’s. Is there any way out to remove those suppliers from the output? Thanks Ankit [Next page](https://forums.powershell.org/t/how-to-read-and-parse-a-text-file/4682.md?page=2)