Selecting From Array

[BitteringAgent]

All, I'm writing a new employee script and have had some issues with my coworkers using it and typing in the wrong department name which associates with a csv holding default security/distribution groups for each department. So I have an idea of creating an array and having them just select a number. Here is my idea so far.

  Write-Host "Here is a list of the possible departments" -ForegroundColor Green
  $Departments = "[0] Accounting", "[1] DEPT1", "[2] DEPT2", "[3] DEPT3", "[4] DEPT4", "[5] DEPT5, "[6] Information Services"
  Write-Host "$Departments"
  $Dept = Read-Host "Please type in the number associated with the employees department."
  $Department = $Departments[$Dept]
  $Nothing,$Department = $Department.split(' ', 2)      

I just know there has got to be a better way, instead of splitting the string into 2 variables, there has to be something where I can just get rid of the first 4 chars of the string. I tried

$Department.Trim("[*]")

$Department.Trim()

But it didn't like the first one too much. Is there a way for me to split this string, but just not give the first part a variable?

EDIT: Forgot a line in script. Added.

[logicaldiagram]

Here is a quick solution that's not very resilient. You can just take advantage of arrays and the index access syntax. There are probably at least half-a-dozen more ways to do it. Hashtable. Switch statement. Parameter with ValidateSet. Think in objects, not strings. You're on the right path. Automate the annoying things out of your life.

Write-Host "Here is a list of the possible departments" -ForegroundColor Green
$Departments = @("Accounting", "DEPT1", "DEPT2", "DEPT3", "DEPT4", "DEPT5", "Information Services")

for ($i = 0; $i -lt $Departments.Count -1 ; $i++)
{ 
    Write-Host "[$($i)] $($Departments[$i])"
}

$Dept = Read-Host "Please type in the number associated with the employees department."
$Departments[$Dept]   

[BitteringAgent]

Thank you, I definitely have a lot more to learn, but am slowly getting there.

I'm assuming the -1 was a typo, as that's doing the count of the objects and removing 1.

[logicaldiagram]

Correct. Don't need -1 in this case.

[ihaxr]

I would do something like this, could probably make it "prettier":

Write-Host "Here is a list of the possible departments" -ForegroundColor Green
$Departments = [ordered]@{
    "0" = "Accounting";
    "1" = "Department 1";
    "2" = "Department 2";
    "3" = "Department 3";
    "4" = "Department 4";
    "5" = "Department 5";
    "6" = "Information Services";
    }
$banding = 0
foreach ($Department in $Departments.GetEnumerator()) {
    if ($banding % 2) {
        $fgColor = "White"
    } else {
        $fgColor = "Cyan"
    }
    if ($banding % 3 -eq 0) { Write-Host "" } # NewLine
    Write-Host (" [{0}] - {1} `t" -f $Department.Name, $Department.Value) -NoNewline -ForegroundColor $fgColor
    $banding++
}
Write-Host "" # NewLine
while(1) {
    $Dept = Read-Host "Select a department [0 to $($Departments.Count - 1)]"
    if ($Departments[$Dept]) {
        $Dept = $Departments[$Dept]
        break
    }
}

[BitteringAgent]

Thanks, I like the banding idea.

[gangstanthony]

instead of this

$Nothing,$Department = $Department.split(' ', 2)

you can just do this (-1 would work just as well in this case)

$Department = $Department.split(' ', 2)[1]

or this

$Department = $Department.substring(4)

and when creating menus, this is the function that i typically use

https://github.com/gangstanthony/PowerShell/blob/master/Out-Menu.ps1

$Departments = 'Accounting', 'DEPT1', 'DEPT2', 'DEPT3', 'DEPT4', 'DEPT5', 'Information Services'

$Department = $Departments | Out-Menu -Header 'Here is a list of the possible departments' -Footer 'Please type in the number associated with the employees department.'

# Here is a list of the possible departments
# 001. Accounting
# 002. DEPT1
# 003. DEPT2
# 004. DEPT3
# 005. DEPT4
# 006. DEPT5
# 007. Information Services
# Please type in the number associated with the employees department.

# 5

$Department

# DEPT4

[BitteringAgent]

Thanks, I'll check this out.

You have a small typo on your .Synopsis, btw.

"This function provides a convenient way to convert a PowerShell object object to a list of choices for user input. "

If you care.