1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,790 So now that we've looked at formatting and casting, 2 00:00:02,790 --> 00:00:06,210 one of the things that we do is actually manipulate data, 3 00:00:06,210 --> 00:00:10,840 and we're going to focus on string data, so we're talking text values. 4 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:12,920 So common string manipulation, 5 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,970 normally the most common one is replacing string values. 6 00:00:16,970 --> 00:00:22,170 So you may start with, let's say, a sentence or a few characters, 7 00:00:22,170 --> 00:00:26,140 and you wish to replace something in that value. 8 00:00:26,140 --> 00:00:28,300 Next would be splitting string values. 9 00:00:28,300 --> 00:00:31,030 This is very, very common. You know, as an example, 10 00:00:31,030 --> 00:00:34,380 if you're managing something on a network and you 11 00:00:34,380 --> 00:00:36,310 need to retrieve domain accounts, 12 00:00:36,310 --> 00:00:40,330 often the biggest thing is splitting out the domain 13 00:00:40,330 --> 00:00:42,930 and the dash and the user account, 14 00:00:42,930 --> 00:00:46,740 or maybe it's an email format you want to split out. 15 00:00:46,740 --> 00:00:49,540 Then, of course, you've got padding string values. 16 00:00:49,540 --> 00:00:51,100 This one is less used, 17 00:00:51,100 --> 00:00:56,540 but this allows you to pad values at either end of a string value. 18 00:00:56,540 --> 00:01:00,040 So the first thing we have is the ‑replace operator. 19 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:05,200 So this takes an input string, then the replace operator, 20 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,720 then there's a matching pattern, and then there's the string replacement. 21 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,910 So that's kind of the four key pieces of the replace operator. 22 00:01:13,910 --> 00:01:17,540 So let's look at how we use the replace operator. 23 00:01:17,540 --> 00:01:19,280 So first off, we have two variables. 24 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:21,580 variable1, which is a sentence, 25 00:01:21,580 --> 00:01:24,610 The class instructor asked for a volunteer for a demonstration, 26 00:01:24,610 --> 00:01:28,670 and then variable2 is a name, so Jones, Tom, 27 00:01:28,670 --> 00:01:30,320 Tom Jones, whatever it would be. 28 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:32,660 Now if we're using the replace operator, 29 00:01:32,660 --> 00:01:38,740 we can take variable1, and we can replace the value inside of it. 30 00:01:38,740 --> 00:01:41,240 Now think carefully about this one. 31 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,130 Variable1 is the containing object. 32 00:01:44,130 --> 00:01:47,760 If I then say variable1 ‑replace instructor, 33 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,570 teacher, the thing you have to remember is, 34 00:01:50,570 --> 00:01:52,680 is that going to update variable1, 35 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,740 or is it just going to read the variable and replace the value? 36 00:01:56,740 --> 00:01:57,580 And it's the second. 37 00:01:57,580 --> 00:02:00,630 It's not going to update variable1 because we're not 38 00:02:00,630 --> 00:02:02,450 loading it back into variable1. 39 00:02:02,450 --> 00:02:05,550 So that will always say the word instructor, 40 00:02:05,550 --> 00:02:09,320 even though we did a replace at some point in the code. 41 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,300 Now the second option would be to load that value into a new variable, 42 00:02:13,300 --> 00:02:14,840 which is actually quite common too. 43 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,650 So we take an existing value in a variable that we don't want to change, 44 00:02:18,650 --> 00:02:21,450 but we want to use it somewhere else with changes. 45 00:02:21,450 --> 00:02:23,730 So instead of modifying the original, 46 00:02:23,730 --> 00:02:28,050 we simply say replacevariable = variable1 and then 47 00:02:28,050 --> 00:02:30,380 that replace syntax that we have. 48 00:02:30,380 --> 00:02:34,150 Now we also can use regex to swap things around. 49 00:02:34,150 --> 00:02:37,380 So in this instance, clearly Jones, 50 00:02:37,380 --> 00:02:40,050 Tom isn't the correct way around for the name. 51 00:02:40,050 --> 00:02:42,920 And so I want it to be Tom Jones. 52 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:47,220 So what we can do here is you'll notice I'm making an adjustment, 53 00:02:47,220 --> 00:02:53,240 but I'm also updating variable2 because it says variable2 =. 54 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:57,440 So I'm changing the original value of variable2. 55 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,620 So variable 2 ‑replace, you can see in the quotes is the regex, 56 00:03:01,620 --> 00:03:04,460 which basically will say go and find the spaces, 57 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:07,340 get the values, and then when you do this, 58 00:03:07,340 --> 00:03:09,550 it creates them into segments. 59 00:03:09,550 --> 00:03:12,870 So I have $2 and $1. 60 00:03:12,870 --> 00:03:16,440 $1 would be the first bit, which is Jones, 61 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:21,240 and $2 is Tom because it's segmented into two components. 62 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:27,640 Now when it outputs the variable2 value, it will be Tom Jones. 63 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:32,340 We can also use replace using regex to remove any spaces. 64 00:03:32,340 --> 00:03:33,590 This one's quite a common one. 65 00:03:33,590 --> 00:03:36,600 I've seen multiple functions that people have written in PowerShell 66 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:41,960 scripts simply using regex replacement to remove any spaces that 67 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,460 may or may not be in a value because, of course, 68 00:03:44,460 --> 00:03:49,340 you can't often trust end‑user input. 69 00:03:49,340 --> 00:03:53,740 Now the next thing we can do here is to use that split operator. 70 00:03:53,740 --> 00:03:59,640 Now the split operator will split one or more strings into substrings. 71 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,950 The default split delimiter is whitespace. 72 00:04:02,950 --> 00:04:05,630 So if you want to use commas or something else, 73 00:04:05,630 --> 00:04:08,600 you have to specify what you would use. 74 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:14,140 Other delimiters are characters, strings, patterns, or script blocks. 75 00:04:14,140 --> 00:04:18,540 All substrings are returned by default. 76 00:04:18,540 --> 00:04:19,920 So what does this look like? 77 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:24,780 Well, in the split operator syntax, it requires a couple of things. 78 00:04:24,780 --> 00:04:26,810 The first is the delimiter. 79 00:04:26,810 --> 00:04:28,230 The default obviously, as I mentioned, 80 00:04:28,230 --> 00:04:31,400 is the whitespace, but you can specify character strings, 81 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:36,140 patterns, or even script blocks that then specify the delimiter. 82 00:04:36,140 --> 00:04:41,630 The split operator in PowerShell uses a regular expression in 83 00:04:41,630 --> 00:04:45,040 the delimiter rather than simple characters. 84 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,900 You then need to specify the number of substrings, so this is the maximum 85 00:04:49,900 --> 00:04:53,970 number. So the default is to return every single substring. 86 00:04:53,970 --> 00:04:57,640 If you specify a number less than the number of substrings, the 87 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:01,540 remaining ones are concatenated to the last one. 88 00:05:01,540 --> 00:05:04,950 And then, of course, we have the conditions the delimiter matches. 89 00:05:04,950 --> 00:05:09,150 So these are options that specify the conditions to 90 00:05:09,150 --> 00:05:10,700 which the delimiter is matched. 91 00:05:10,700 --> 00:05:15,040 So is it a multiline match or is it a simple match? 92 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:17,640 So what does that look like in PowerShell? 93 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:17,900 Well, 94 00:05:17,900 --> 00:05:23,140 in reality, it looks like this, ‑Split and then the string value, 95 00:05:23,140 --> 00:05:27,510 or ‑Split and then in brackets, in parentheses, 96 00:05:27,510 --> 00:05:32,570 the string value. It could also be String Split and 97 00:05:32,570 --> 00:05:37,240 then other values, so Delimiter, Max‑strings, and Options. 98 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:42,310 It could also be String Split ScriptBlock to define the delimiter 99 00:05:42,310 --> 00:05:45,440 and then also the maximum number of substrings. 100 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,440 Now that's great, but what does that look like in reality? 101 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:49,460 Well, first off, 102 00:05:49,460 --> 00:05:53,010 if you want to split the string value using the default delimiter, 103 00:05:53,010 --> 00:05:53,830 we can do this. 104 00:05:53,830 --> 00:05:55,510 So, for example, I've got January, February, 105 00:05:55,510 --> 00:06:00,060 March, April, May June in a single text value with spaces in between. 106 00:06:00,060 --> 00:06:06,270 If I use the split option, it will break those out into discrete values, January, 107 00:06:06,270 --> 00:06:09,530 February, March, April, May, and June. 108 00:06:09,530 --> 00:06:13,620 If I was using comma separation, then I would have to change the syntax 109 00:06:13,620 --> 00:06:19,450 around. So you can see I'm now putting the text or the object first, split, 110 00:06:19,450 --> 00:06:22,870 and then after it is the delimiter that's being used. 111 00:06:22,870 --> 00:06:24,940 Same thing would happen, January, February, 112 00:06:24,940 --> 00:06:25,420 March, April, 113 00:06:25,420 --> 00:06:29,360 May, June, but it would split not on spaces, but on the 114 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,240 delimiter that we specified of a comma. 115 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,680 Now we can split the string values into three using comma delimiters. 116 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:41,250 So now we're enhancing this. We're saying I want to take this January, 117 00:06:41,250 --> 00:06:42,090 February, March, April, 118 00:06:42,090 --> 00:06:45,330 May, June, split them by the comma, and then I also want 119 00:06:45,330 --> 00:06:51,340 to return three sets of those values. 120 00:06:51,340 --> 00:06:53,270 Now we could go a little bit differently here. 121 00:06:53,270 --> 00:06:56,290 We can actually just split a variable. So we can have 122 00:06:56,290 --> 00:06:58,330 an existing variable with values. 123 00:06:58,330 --> 00:07:00,760 So there's my variable, January, February, 124 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:01,370 March, April, May, 125 00:07:01,370 --> 00:07:05,320 June, and then I simply say variable split to the 126 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,540 delimiter that we wish to utilize. 127 00:07:08,540 --> 00:07:13,340 Now there's also what's referred to as the .Split function. 128 00:07:13,340 --> 00:07:18,740 This splits input into multiple substrings based on a delimiter. 129 00:07:18,740 --> 00:07:23,240 So instead of using ‑Split, which effectively is an operator, 130 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,980 some objects will have .Split as a function. 131 00:07:26,980 --> 00:07:31,310 This uses whitespace characters, like space, tabs, and 132 00:07:31,310 --> 00:07:34,240 line‑breaks as the default delimiter. 133 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:39,190 It's available for all [String] type variables and values. 134 00:07:39,190 --> 00:07:41,470 So this doesn't exist on an integer. 135 00:07:41,470 --> 00:07:43,940 It's only available to strings. 136 00:07:43,940 --> 00:07:46,140 So what does that look like in PowerShell? 137 00:07:46,140 --> 00:07:49,130 Well, if we have a variable, January, February, 138 00:07:49,130 --> 00:07:51,250 March, April, May, June, comma separated, 139 00:07:51,250 --> 00:07:56,850 you'll see that I can use variable.Split, so I'm calling the function, 140 00:07:56,850 --> 00:08:01,040 and then in parentheses, I specify the delimiter. 141 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,450 I can also do nested split if I wanted to as well. 142 00:08:04,450 --> 00:08:07,840 So you'll see here that in my text data that's coming in, 143 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,700 I'm using a mix of commas and semicolons too, which would 144 00:08:11,700 --> 00:08:16,830 mess up my split. So I can say variable.Split to the commas, 145 00:08:16,830 --> 00:08:22,340 .Split to the semicolons as well. 146 00:08:22,340 --> 00:08:25,650 Now let's talk about padding string values. 147 00:08:25,650 --> 00:08:27,220 It sounds like a strange thing, 148 00:08:27,220 --> 00:08:33,300 but we can pad values left, and we can pad values right. So 149 00:08:33,300 --> 00:08:36,750 the idea being is that the pad left will add padding of 150 00:08:36,750 --> 00:08:39,600 string values to the left of a value, 151 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:44,500 and you can set the specified length you wish to add. For pad right, 152 00:08:44,500 --> 00:08:47,050 you can add padding to the right of the value, 153 00:08:47,050 --> 00:08:54,590 and you can also set the specified length. Now when padding string values, 154 00:08:54,590 --> 00:08:59,050 if we kind of have a look at the effect here. So I have a variable or a 155 00:08:59,050 --> 00:09:03,500 value, and then I have obviously the width, so the value length plus 156 00:09:03,500 --> 00:09:06,140 padding and then a padding character. 157 00:09:06,140 --> 00:09:09,340 So if my word was Demonstration, 158 00:09:09,340 --> 00:09:19,740 you can see that my value length would be 13, and then I want to pad to 1, 159 00:09:19,740 --> 00:09:25,340 and then I'm going to say padding character is A. So what this would do is 160 00:09:25,340 --> 00:09:30,560 this would add that A to one end or the other, 161 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:33,440 depending on whether we chose left or right. 162 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:36,240 If I do the same thing here, so sample. 163 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:41,730 So it's taken the length, so 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 + 1 = 7, so the 164 00:09:41,730 --> 00:09:45,840 seventh character would be padded with the letter B. 165 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:53,270 If I do this with numbers, then you can see I've got 1 + 5 = 6. 166 00:09:53,270 --> 00:09:57,190 Now what would that look like because I have a single value, but then I'm 167 00:09:57,190 --> 00:10:02,000 padding with a character five times? So that would increase the width of that 168 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:07,150 to be six characters. So it would be five 0s + 1. 169 00:10:07,150 --> 00:10:10,090 Now, of course, if we're doing variables, we can do the same thing as well. 170 00:10:10,090 --> 00:10:12,440 So I have a variable value. 171 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,710 I'm going to get the length of the variable, add 5 to it, 172 00:10:15,710 --> 00:10:21,140 which equals X, whatever it would be, and I'm going to use T as the padding. 173 00:10:21,140 --> 00:10:25,740 So it's going to add the letter T five times to something. 174 00:10:25,740 --> 00:10:29,440 So padding is all about adding something. So a standard approach here 175 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:34,650 would be I have a unique ID for a user, it's 23, but all of our employee 176 00:10:34,650 --> 00:10:39,840 records have six 0s before it. So you could simply pad the value, and it 177 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,340 would give you what you're looking for. 178 00:10:42,340 --> 00:10:43,860 So how does that work here? 179 00:10:43,860 --> 00:10:48,290 So the standard syntax is using effectively functions like the 180 00:10:48,290 --> 00:10:53,280 split where it's .PadLeft, .PadRight, the Width, 181 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,140 and then the character you wish to utilize. 182 00:10:56,140 --> 00:10:59,040 So if I was to use that Demonstration word, 183 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,920 it would be variable = Demonstration PadLeft. 184 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,830 I know it's 14, and so add an A. 185 00:11:05,830 --> 00:11:11,940 So that would put the word letter A at the beginning of the word Demonstration. 186 00:11:11,940 --> 00:11:13,610 If I was to pad right, 187 00:11:13,610 --> 00:11:19,000 it would do the same process, but put the letter B at the end of the word Demonstration.