# Parse file convert elements from string to object

**URL:** <https://forums.powershell.org/t/parse-file-convert-elements-from-string-to-object/4722>\
**Category:** PowerShell Help\
**Created:** [August 19, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/parse-file-convert-elements-from-string-to-object/4722 "2015-08-19T13:14:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![aldis-tuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c5a1d2/32.png) [@aldis-tuck](https://forums.powershell.org/u/aldis-tuck)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/parse-file-convert-elements-from-string-to-object/4722/1 "2015-08-19T13:14:18Z")

</div>

Hello,  
I’m trying to parse a file and extract specific data from it. I want to also assign handles or objectify the data so that it can be further manipulated, searched, filtered, exported etc…  
An example would be NAME = “SNMPConfig”, PARAM\_TYPE = STANDARD, ACTIVE = False, MONITOR = False, CHECK = False.  
This is only one piece of the puzzle but what I want to accomplish is to take each string in the file similar to this one and break it apart so that NAME becomes a handle, PARAM\_TYPE becomes a handle, ACTIVE becomes a handle, MONITOR becomes a handle, and CHECK becomes a handle. Under each handle would be the items on the other side of the equals sign. Each string in the file that is similar to what I provided will have NAME, PARAM\_TYPE, ACTIVE etc… and something different on the other side of the equals sign. So imagine you execute get-service or get-process; I want all the different strings in the files I parse to look like the output you get from a typical powershell cmd-let. Is that possible?

Example Text File: Forgive me if I get the code blocks wrong.

```
!KM ZEROED ON 07/02/14 09:02 AM
!PATROLV3.5.20i 7DA778CDE6DDDF13E2838E4B0F567C54
!#MSG_DOMAIN	pwk_sec
!++
!
! PATROL Session Knowledge Module
!
!--
!RELEASE 4.7.00
!REVISION 00
!PACKAGE pwk
!DESCRIPTION PATROL Knowledge Module for Microsoft Windows Operating System
!PRODUCTCODE pwk

VERSION 1.153

COMPUTERS = {
  { NAME = "NT",
	SCREEN_POSITION = {12, 24},
	OK_PICTURE = "nt_ok.xpm",
	WRONG_PICTURE = "nt_warn.xpm",
	COMMANDS = {
		{ NAME = "SNMP Reconfigure", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ALWAYS, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 1087855579 "requires pwk_nt;\
pwk_nt__ReconfigureSnmp();\
pwk_nt__StartSnmp();"}
				}
		},
		{ NAME = "Refresh Parameters", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ONLINE, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "OS",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 892081741 "%REFRESH_PARAMS"}
				}
		},
		{ NAME = "OS Command", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ALWAYS, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "OS",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 759992599 "%%{OS Command}"}
				}
		},
		{ NAME = "OS Task", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ALWAYS, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "OS",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 759992599 "%%{Command}"}
				},
		 TASK = { SHOW_TIMER = True, INTERACTIVE = True, ATTN_POPUP = False }
		},
		{ NAME = "PSL Command", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ONLINE, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 759992599 "%%{Command}"}
				}
		},
		{ NAME = "PSL Task", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ONLINE, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 759992599 "%%{Command}"}
				},
		 TASK = { SHOW_TIMER = True, INTERACTIVE = True, ATTN_POPUP = False }
		},
		{ NAME = "Configure Recovery Actions", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ALWAYS, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 984071155 "requires PATROLRecovery;\
ListRecoveryActionsDialog(\"\", TRUE);"}
				}
		}

	},
	INFO_BOX = {
		{ NAME = "OS Name", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ONLINE, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 890946737 "print(get(\"/osName\"));"}
				}
		},
		{ NAME = "OS Version", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ONLINE, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 937583757 "#%ECHO %{reg_OsVersion}\
print(get(\"/reg_OsVersion\").\" \".get(\"/reg_SvcPk\"));"}
				}
		},
		{ NAME = "Build Number", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ONLINE, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 890946938 "#%ECHO %{reg_BuildNumber}\
print(get(\"/reg_BuildNumber\"));"}
				}
		},
		{ NAME = "UpTime", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ONLINE, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 997455536 "requires pwk_ntos;\
print( pwk_ntos__SystemUpTime() );"}
				}
		},
		{ NAME = "Last Reboot At", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ONLINE, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 997455547 "requires pwk_ntos;\
print( pwk_ntos__SystemBootTime() );"}
				}
		},
		{ NAME = "NT KM Version", AVAILABILITY = AVAILABLE_ALWAYS, SECURITY = SECURITY_INHERIT,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 1078269349 "requires pwk_version;\
print( pwk_version__GetVersion() );"}
				}
		}

	},
	PARAMETERS = {
		{	NAME = "SNMPConfig", PARAM_TYPE = STANDARD, ACTIVE = False, MONITOR = False, CHECK = False,
 HELP_FILE = "pwkkm.hlp",
 HELP_CONTEXT_ID = 13711,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 1087855701 "requires pwk_nt;\
pwk_nt__StartSnmp();"}
				},
			START = "ASAP",
			POLL_TIME = "60", EXTERNAL_POLLING = False,
			HISTORY_TIME = "60", HISTORY_SPAN = 0, HISTORY_LEVEL = False,
			FORMAT = "%f", OUTPUT = OUTPUT_NONE,
			AUTO_RESCALE = True, Y_AXIS_MIN = 0, Y_AXIS_MAX = 100,
			RANGES = {
			  { NAME = "BORDER", ACTIVE = False, MINIMUM = 0, MAXIMUM = 0, STATE = OK, ALARM_WHEN = ALARM_INSTANT, ALARM_WHEN_N = 0
			  },
			  { NAME = "ALARM1", ACTIVE = False, MINIMUM = 0, MAXIMUM = 0, STATE = OK, ALARM_WHEN = ALARM_INSTANT, ALARM_WHEN_N = 0
			  },
			  { NAME = "ALARM2", ACTIVE = False, MINIMUM = 0, MAXIMUM = 0, STATE = OK, ALARM_WHEN = ALARM_INSTANT, ALARM_WHEN_N = 0
			  }
			}
		},
		{	NAME = "SNMPStart", PARAM_TYPE = STANDARD, ACTIVE = True, MONITOR = False, CHECK = False,
 HELP_FILE = "pwkkm.hlp",
 HELP_CONTEXT_ID = 13710,
				BASE_COMMAND = { 
				{ COMPUTER_TYPE = "NT", COMMAND_TYPE = "PSL",
				  COMMAND_TEXT = 1087855708 "requires pwk_nt;\
pwk_nt__StartSnmp();"}
				},
			START = "ASAP",
			POLL_TIME = "30", EXTERNAL_POLLING = False,
			TITLE = "SNMPStart",
			HISTORY_TIME = "30", HISTORY_SPAN = 0, HISTORY_LEVEL = False,
			FORMAT = "%f", OUTPUT = OUTPUT_NONE,
			AUTO_RESCALE = True, Y_AXIS_MIN = 0, Y_AXIS_MAX = 100,
			RANGES = {
			  { NAME = "BORDER", ACTIVE = False, MINIMUM = 0, MAXIMUM = 0, STATE = OK, ALARM_WHEN = ALARM_INSTANT, ALARM_WHEN_N = 0
			  },
			  { NAME = "ALARM1", ACTIVE = False, MINIMUM = 0, MAXIMUM = 0, STATE = OK, ALARM_WHEN = ALARM_INSTANT, ALARM_WHEN_N = 0
			  },
			  { NAME = "ALARM2", ACTIVE = False, MINIMUM = 0, MAXIMUM = 0, STATE = OK, ALARM_WHEN = ALARM_INSTANT, ALARM_WHEN_N = 0
			  }
			}
		}

	},
	COMMAND_TYPES = {
		{ NAME = "DISKPERF", TEMPLATE = 1003325895 "diskperf %{command}", KILL_GRP = False, KILL_SIG = 0 },
		{ NAME = "SNMPSTART", TEMPLATE = 996242303 "%{snmp_prog} %{snmp_config} %{snmp_parm} %{command}", KILL_GRP = False, KILL_SIG = 0 },
		{ NAME = "SNMPHUP", TEMPLATE = 996162113 "%{cmdline}\\bin\\snmphup %{command}", KILL_GRP = False, KILL_SIG = 0 },
		{ NAME = "CHKDSK", TEMPLATE = 992614858 "chkdsk %{command}", KILL_GRP = False, KILL_SIG = 0 },
		{ NAME = "LOGD", TEMPLATE = 992613024 "logd %{command}", KILL_GRP = False, KILL_SIG = 0 }

	}
  }
```

Powershell Command I’ve been trying:

```
function Get-Params{
[CmdletBinding()]
param(
    [Parameter()]
    [string[]]$FileName='.\Data Files\NT_CPU.km'
)
Begin{
$Parse = Get-Content -Path $FileName
$Parse = $Parse | Select-String -Pattern RELEASE,DESCRIPTION,PARAM_TYPE,TITLE
$Parse = $Parse -replace "{",""
$Parse = $Parse -replace " ",""
# Replaces with new lines
$Parse = $Parse -replace ",","`r`n"
$Parse = $Parse -replace " ",""
#$Parse = $Parse | Select-String RELEASE,DESCRIPTION,NAME,PARAMETERS,TITLE,UNITS
#$Parse = $Parse -replace "{ NAME = `"BORDER`", ACTIVE = False, MINIMUM = 0, MAXIMUM = 0, STATE = OK, ALARM_WHEN = ALARM_INSTANT, ALARM_WHEN_N = 0",""
#$Parse = $Parse -replace "{ NAME = `"ALARM1`", ACTIVE = False, MINIMUM = 0, MAXIMUM = 0, STATE = OK, ALARM_WHEN = ALARM_INSTANT, ALARM_WHEN_N = 0",""
#$Parse = $Parse -replace "{ NAME = `"ALARM2`", ACTIVE = False, MINIMUM = 0, MAXIMUM = 0, STATE = OK, ALARM_WHEN = ALARM_INSTANT, ALARM_WHEN_N = 0",""
}

Process{

$Parse
}

End{}
```

Maybe you can tell me if what I’m trying to do given the format of the file is even possible. There is other data I also want from the file but I thought I would start here.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![donj](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forums.powershell.org/donj/32/137_2.png) [@donj](https://forums.powershell.org/u/donj)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/parse-file-convert-elements-from-string-to-object/4722/2 "2015-08-21T00:33:29Z")

</div>

I think I’m not following what you want ;). Could you maybe post just the small portion of that big file that you’re trying to work with? And maybe mock up what you want the result to be?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![aldis-tuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c5a1d2/32.png) [@aldis-tuck](https://forums.powershell.org/u/aldis-tuck)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/parse-file-convert-elements-from-string-to-object/4722/3 "2015-08-21T11:43:52Z")

</div>

Hello Don,  
Thank you for the reply, it just so happens that I made a small discovery last night and was able to make some progress towards my goal. I happened upon a cmdlet that I think is new to powershell 5 called ConvertFrom-String. This had the affect of breaking up the file I want to parse and assigning the pieces to handles (P1,P2,P3 etc…)

A new revision of my script:

```
function Get-PatrolParameter{
[CmdletBinding()]
param(
    [Parameter()]
    [string[]]$FileName='.\NT_CPU.km'
)
Begin{
$Parse = Get-Content -Path $FileName
$Parse = $Parse | Select-String PARAM_TYPE
$Parse = $Parse -replace "`"",""
$Parse = $Parse -replace ",",""
$Parse = $Parse | ConvertFrom-String
$Parse = $Parse | Select-Object @{name='Parameter';expression={$_.P5}},@{name='Parameter Type';expression={$_.P8}},@{name='Active';expression={$_.P11}},@{name='Monitor';expression={$_.P14}},@{name='Check';expression={$_.P17}}
}

Process{

$Parse
}

End{}

}
```

This script starts out by getting the content of the file, then I parse the file for one of the strings I’m interested in which is any line that contains the word “PARAM\_TYPE”. For the file that I had posted in code blocks, this parse will pull back two lines. Those two lines contain five items I was interested in splitting up but I wanted to be sure that each of the two lines once all the items were split would be categorized correctly. So in this instance I would be looking to see a result like:  
Parameter | Parameter Type | Active | Monitor | Check  
SNMPConfig | STANDARD | False | False | False  
SNMPStart | STANDARD | False | False | False

After doing the parse, a little clean up with the -replace, and using the ConvertFrom-String I was well on my way. I then did a Select-Object to only pull the objects I wanted and renamed them from the default naming scheme.

I still have some work ahead of me and I’m stuck again. I hope thus far I’m doing a better job of explaining and hopefully the new script will help you understand me better as well.

My next couple of hurdles are as follows. Unfortunately I don’t think the first large file I provided had all the elements I’m looking for. You see; I have many of these files, and they all contain basically the same information and are the same format. Most I would say are larger than the one I provided, but I think you may be able to see my problem with it none the less. Let’s say I wanted to parse something else in the file like “TITLE” for instance. This is separate from the other string data so it does two things that I don’t know how to deal with. First it will have a space between it and the rest of my data, and second, it will also have own set of handles.

I would like to parse other strings in the file, not have them be separated by returns and I would like them to simply get appended to the original object line. So if I initially have P1 - P17 from parsing “PARAM\_TYPE”, I would like to continue in that series starting at P18 when I parse for something else.

I know that is long winded, I couldn’t think of a short way to explain this. I appreciate the assistance and the video tutorials on Youtube.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dotnVo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@dotnVo](https://forums.powershell.org/u/dotnVo)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/parse-file-convert-elements-from-string-to-object/4722/4 "2024-05-16T20:44:52Z")

</div>