Question

I’m trying to run this script that basically reads/interprets text in from a textfile and stores the “key” and “value” into a hashtable. Now I want to change a specific key and value as I am reading the text from the text file.

The following is the text in my file:

line1 = apple  
line2 = firetruck  
line3 = cricket  
line4 = gorilla  
line5 = elephant  
line6 = banana  
line7 = jumper  
line8 = hat  
line9 = deer  
line10 = igloo  

Here is my code:

param
(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,  HelpMessage="Please specify the text filename.")]$fileName
)


$hashTable = @{}
$textFile = Get-Content $filename | ForEach-Object `
{
    $equalindex = $_.IndexOf("=")
    $key = $_.Substring(0,$equalindex)

    if($key -like "line2")
    {
        $key = "line2 has been changed"
    }

    $remainingLen = (($_.Length - 1) -$equalindex)
    $value = $_.Substring($equalindex +1, $remainingLen)

    if($value -like "value2")
    {
        $value = "value2 has been changed"
    }

    $hashtable.Add($key,$value)
} 

$hashtable.Set_Item("line5","line5 value has been changed")
$hashtable.GetEnumerator() | Sort-Object name

When I run my code it outputs the hashtable but does not change my “line2” key or my “value2” value. Is this the correct/most logical way to do what I’m trying to accomplish?

Answer 1

You need to remove leading and (or) trailing spaces. Try this:

$ht=@{}

Get-Content $filename | foreach{

    $key,$value = $_.Split('=') | foreach {$_.Trim()}

    if($key -like "line2")
    {
       $key = "line2 has been changed"
    }

    if($value -like "value2")
    {
        $value = "value2 has been changed"
    }

    $ht.Add($key,$value)
}

$ht.GetEnumerator() | Sort-Object name


Name                           Value                                                                                                                                     
----                           -----                                                                                                                                     
line1                          apple                                                                                                                                     
line10                         igloo                                                                                                                                     
line2 has been changed         firetruck                                                                                                                                 
line3                          cricket                                                                                                                                   
line4                          gorilla                                                                                                                                   
line5                          elephant                                                                                                                                  
line6                          banana                                                                                                                                    
line7                          jumper                                                                                                                                    
line8                          hat                                                                                                                                       
line9                          deer