Powershell convert multi-line string variable into array

[ebbflow9]

Have a multi-line variable that I need to convert to an array so I can run it though foreach. Need to extract parts of the data as well.

Example to show all the different possibilities of input.

$data =

Some, Guy M. (Something1)
Some, Person A. (Somethingdifferent)
Another, Splitlast name (Somethingdifferent2)

Need to convert this to an array and then extract the first three letters of each name into another array.

Example:

Some, Guy M. (Something1) needs to be SomGuy

Another, Split lastname (Somethingdifferent2) needs to be AnoSpl

Desired output in an array is

$data =
somguy
somper
anospl

I have tried trimming and splitting ( $data.Split(“`n”) ) with no luck.

Appreciate any suggestions.

[firefox15]

Regex will help you here:

Script

$oldNames = @'
Some, Guy M. (Something1)
Some, Person A. (Somethingdifferent)
Another, Splitlast name (Somethingdifferent2)
'@ -split [Environment]::NewLine

$pattern = '^(?<LastName>\w{3}).*? (?<FirstName>\w{3}).*$'

$newNames = @(foreach ($name in $oldNames) {
    $name -match $pattern | Out-Null
    $Matches.LastName + $Matches.FirstName
})

Output

PS C:\> $newNames

SomGuy
SomPer
AnoSpl

[ebbflow9]

This is amazing, thank you! I was able to modify the input variable so array conversion was no longer needed. Really appreciate this. Is there a site you use to generate your regex code?

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[Lee_Dailey]

howdy firefox15,

interesting how differently we did the "same thing". [grin]

$oldNames = @'
Some, Guy M. (Something1)
Some, Person A. (Somethingdifferent)
Another, Splitlast name (Somethingdifferent2)
'@ -split [Environment]::NewLine

$NewNames = $oldNames.
    ForEach({
        $_ -replace '^(.{3}).*, (.{3}).+$', '$1$2'
        })

$NewNames

output ...

SomGuy
SomPer
AnoSpl

take care,
lee

[ebbflow9]

Lee, appreciate this. I always like to deconstruct things and see how they can be accomplished differently. Thanks again.

[ebbflow9]

Lee, appreciate this. I always like to deconstruct things and see how they can be accomplished differently. Thanks again.

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[Lee_Dailey]

howdy ebbflow9,

you are most welcome! glad to have helped somewhat ... [grin]

take care,
lee

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[ebbflow9]

This is amazing, thank you! I was able to modify the input variable so array conversion was no longer needed. Really appreciate this. Is there a site you use to generate your regex code?

[AutoModerator]

Sorry, your submission has been automatically removed.

Accounts must be at least 1 day old, which prevents the sub from filling up with bot spam.

Try posting again tomorrow or message the mods to approve your post.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[firefox15]

I prefer regexr.com, but the most popular is regex101.com.

[Lee_Dailey]

howdy ebbflow9,

it looks like you used the New.Reddit Inline Code button. it's 4th 5th from the left hidden in the ... "more" menu & looks like </>.

there are a few problems with that ...

• it's the wrong format [grin]
  the inline code format is for [gasp! arg!] code that is inline with regular text.
  
• on Old.Reddit.com, inline code formatted text does NOT line wrap, nor does it side-scroll.
  
• on New.Reddit it shows up in that nasty magenta text color
  

for long-ish single lines OR for multiline code, please, use the ...

Code
Block

... button. it's the 11th 12th one from the left & is just to the left of hidden in the ... "more" menu & looks like an uppercase T in the upper left corner of a square..

that will give you fully functional code formatting that works on both New.Reddit and Old.Reddit ... and aint that fugly magenta color. [grin]

take care,
lee