How to read contents of a csv file inside zip file using PowerShell

Question

I have a zip file which contains several CSV files inside it. How do I read the contents of those CSV files without extracting the zip files using PowerShell?

I having been using the Read-Archive Cmdlet which is included as part of the PowerShell Community Extensions (PSCX)

This is what I have tried so far.

$path = "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\"
$fullpath = Join-Path $path filename.zip

Read-Archive $fullpath | Foreach-Object {
    Get-Content $_.Name
}

But when I run the code, I get this error message Get-Content : An object at the specified path filename.csv does not exist, or has been filtered by the -Include or -Exclude parameter.

However, when I run Read-Archive $fullpath, it lists all the file inside the zip file

Andrey Marchuk · Answer 1 · 2016-06-01T07:49:59.657

23

There are multiple ways of achieving this:

1. Here's an example using Ionic.zip dll:

clear
Add-Type -Path "E:\sw\NuGet\Packages\DotNetZip.1.9.7\lib\net20\Ionic.Zip.dll"
$zip = [Ionic.Zip.ZipFile]::Read("E:\E.zip")

$file = $zip | where-object { $_.FileName -eq "XMLSchema1.xsd"}

$stream = new-object IO.MemoryStream
$file.Extract($stream)
$stream.Position = 0

$reader = New-Object IO.StreamReader($stream)
$text = $reader.ReadToEnd()
$text

$reader.Close()
$stream.Close()
$zip.Dispose()

It's picking the file by name (XMLSchema1.xsd) and extracting it into the memory stream. You then need to read the memory stream into something that you like (string in my example).

2. In Powershell 5, you could use Expand-Archive, see: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn841359.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

It would extract entire archive into a folder:

Expand-Archive "E:\E.zip" "e:\t"

Keep in mind that extracting entire archive is taking time and you will then have to cleanup the temporary files

3. And one more way to extract just 1 file:

$shell = new-object -com shell.application
$zip = $shell.NameSpace("E:\E.zip")
$file =  $zip.items() | Where-Object { $_.Name -eq "XMLSchema1.xsd"}
$shell.Namespace("E:\t").copyhere($file)

4. And one more way using native means:

Add-Type -assembly "system.io.compression.filesystem"
$zip = [io.compression.zipfile]::OpenRead("e:\E.zip")
$file = $zip.Entries | where-object { $_.Name -eq "XMLSchema1.xsd"}
$stream = $file.Open()

$reader = New-Object IO.StreamReader($stream)
$text = $reader.ReadToEnd()
$text

$reader.Close()
$stream.Close()
$zip.Dispose()

edited Jun 01 '16 at 07:49

answered Jun 01 '16 at 07:16

Andrey Marchuk

13,301
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This requires having third party dll installed. Would prefer without one. – Ishan Jun 01 '16 at 07:19
True, but still you are using extensions, which are a bit more difficult to install that just a dll – Andrey Marchuk Jun 01 '16 at 07:21
I would like a solution which does not require extracting the zip. Also updated my question to mention that. – Ishan Jun 01 '16 at 07:35
Your update still requires extracting all the files inside the zip file to a folder – Ishan Jun 01 '16 at 07:46
Getting **You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.** for `$stream = $file.Open()` – Ishan Jun 01 '16 at 07:49
Did you change the file name? – Andrey Marchuk Jun 01 '16 at 07:50
No. It did not change it. – Ishan Jun 01 '16 at 07:52
The code is working for me, so check what files you have inside archive (see what's inside `$zip.Entries`) – Andrey Marchuk Jun 01 '16 at 07:54
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/113487/discussion-between-ishan-and-andrey-marchuk). – Ishan Jun 01 '16 at 07:54
For the powershell solution 5th one, i am getting error if zip file name and file inside zip is bot matching. How do we over come this issue? Any thoughts – Venkata Muttineni Dec 23 '20 at 00:43

Kino101 · Answer 2 · 2019-05-15T16:15:38.787

Based on 4. solution of Andrey, I propose the following function:

(keep in mind that "ZipFile" class exists starting at .NET Framework 4.5)

Add-Type -assembly "System.IO.Compression.FileSystem"

function Read-FileInZip($ZipFilePath, $FilePathInZip) {
    try {
        if (![System.IO.File]::Exists($ZipFilePath)) {
            throw "Zip file ""$ZipFilePath"" not found."
        }

        $Zip = [System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::OpenRead($ZipFilePath)
        $ZipEntries = [array]($Zip.Entries | where-object {
                return $_.FullName -eq $FilePathInZip
            });
        if (!$ZipEntries -or $ZipEntries.Length -lt 1) {
            throw "File ""$FilePathInZip"" couldn't be found in zip ""$ZipFilePath""."
        }
        if (!$ZipEntries -or $ZipEntries.Length -gt 1) {
            throw "More than one file ""$FilePathInZip"" found in zip ""$ZipFilePath""."
        }

        $ZipStream = $ZipEntries[0].Open()

        $Reader = [System.IO.StreamReader]::new($ZipStream)
        return $Reader.ReadToEnd()
    }
    finally {
        if ($Reader) { $Reader.Dispose() }
        if ($Zip) { $Zip.Dispose() }
    }
}

How to read contents of a csv file inside zip file using PowerShell

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