combine multiple powershell cmdlet outputs

Question

I have a requirement to combine outputs of multiple Power Shell scripts to be given as pipeline output using CmdLets in .NET.

For example :

Command-GetA  -combine  Command-GetB | Command-GetD

So I want to send outputs of GetA and GetB to GetD via pipeline. Is there a compact way to do this using powershell scripts or .NET cmdlets? Other than ways like storing the outputs in an array and then passing it to pipeline?

Another complex example could be:

Command-GetA  -combine  ( Command-GetB | Command-GetD ) | Command-GetF

This should combine GetA and GetB|GetD to send as pipeline input to GetF

EDIT:

It would be good if I could do something like this - @( GetA ; GetB) -ConvertToASingleList | GetC

So OutputOfGetA and OutputOfGetB shouldn't get called separately on GetC. Both should, as a combined array or list object, be passed to GetC

score 5 · Answer 1 · 2015-10-14T13:15:46.483

5

The solution suggested by @PetSerAl seems to meet your request:

PS C:\> function Foo { 1..3 }
PS C:\> function Bar { 2..4 }
PS C:\> & { Foo; Bar | % { $_ + 2 } } | oh
1
2
3
4
5
6

A script block combines all the output into an array. This behavior is documented in about_Script_Blocks:

A script block returns the output of all the commands in the script block, either as a single object or as an array.

edited Oct 14 '15 at 13:15

answered Oct 14 '15 at 04:55

I think that your solution is better because it does not buffer anything. – Benoît Dec 15 '17 at 09:49

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 13 '15 at 11:02

Well not really compact, but I would do like this:

    $alldata = @()

    $geta = command-geta
    $getb = command-getb
    $getc = command-getc


    #of course creating a function would be much more nicer in case the structure of A, B and C is the same

    foreach ($a in $geta)
        {
        $temp = New-Object System.Object
        $temp | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "aonedata" -Value $a.one
        $temp | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "atwodata" -Value $a.two
        $alldata += $temp   
        }

    foreach ($b in $getb)
        {
        $temp = New-Object System.Object
        $temp | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "bonedata" -Value $b.one
        $temp | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "btwodata"    -Value $b.two
        $alldata += $temp   
        }

    foreach ($c in $getc)
        {
        $temp = New-Object System.Object
        $temp | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "conedata" -Value $c.one
        $temp | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "ctwodata" -Value $c.two
        $alldata += $temp   
        }

    write-host $alldata
    $alldata | convertto-csv | out-file "c:\temp\lotsofdata.txt"

Seeker · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-19T11:27:21.757

0

This gives me my desired end result :

$( Command-GetA; Command-GetB )| Group Result | Command-GetC

Thus, if "GetC" is a concatenating cmdlet, entire "GetC" cmdlet code runs only once for all my input files (my output file is created anew every time I run "concat")

Though all the above answers here are correct, my requirement was a bit different :)

EDIT:

This is perfect!

,@(Command-GetA;Command-GetB)|Command-GetC

Thanks @PetSerAl

edited Oct 19 '15 at 11:27

answered Oct 19 '15 at 06:33

Seeker

297
5
19

So, your actual requirement *was a **bit** different*, that output should be passed as single item, not by elements. But, if you want to pass array as single item, there is no other possible ways then first create that array and store outputs in it (the phrase in your question: *Other than ways like storing the outputs in an array and then passing it to pipeline?*, was really misleading about your intentions). If I am right about your real requirement, then that is what you was needed: `,@(Command-GetA;Command-GetB)|Command-GetC`. – user4003407 Oct 19 '15 at 07:35
Yes you are very correct! By that line I meant that I didn't want a separate array to be declared in one line of cmd. Then use the array to pass to GetC which would become another line of cmd. I basically wanted to get it done in one line. Sorry should have phrased my question properly. Thanks a lot! – Seeker Oct 19 '15 at 11:25

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 11 '20 at 15:47

0

In case anyone has some weird edge case that the above doesn't work for, you can use -join as well.

EG.

-join($(Command-GetA), "," , $(Command-GetB))

This results in a string suitable for a csv.

answered Sep 11 '20 at 15:47

S. Melted

253
1
10

combine multiple powershell cmdlet outputs

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