Powershell: Export-CSV and OutFile not doing what I expect

Question

Why am I getting a blank file here? When I run it before the export-csv I get PLENTY of records all showing up in the console.

output

So here's the code I'm using

$path = "C:\test"

Get-ChildItem -Path $path -Include *.edi, *.x12, *.filename, *.dat, *.log, *.mdn, *.req -Recurse -Force |
Where-Object {!$_.PSIsContainer -and ((get-date)-$_.LastWriteTime).days -gt 30 } |
Remove-Item -force -whatif | export-csv D:\output.csv #also I try out-file D:\output.txt

Pretty sure -Whatif generates Verbose output so there wouldn't be any objects in the pipeline to pass to Export-csv. — EBGreen
– EBGreen, Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 16:33
@EBGreen: Good point about -WhatIf in general, but it looks like the information is printed straight to the console, not to the verbose output stream (number 4). — mklement0
– mklement0, Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 17:00
@mklement0 You are correct in that assumption (it's a [string] object output to the 1 stream) — Maximilian Burszley
– Maximilian Burszley, Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 17:07
@TheIncorrigible1: In the context of PowerShell, 1 is the success (data) output stream, but this is not where -WhatIf output goes - as far as I can tell, you cannot capture / redirect it all from within PowerShell. (You could from the outside, such as when calling from cmd.exe). — mklement0
– mklement0, Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 17:12
@mklement0 Hmm, I was quick to jump the gun here. Wrapping a command in parens and accessing its type reported string, but now attempting to use redirection or other cmdlets doesn't capture that output. It doesn't even use 5 (Information) like Write-Host does in PSv5 — Maximilian Burszley
– Maximilian Burszley, Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 17:18

mklement0 · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-02 18:10:59Z

Common parameter -WhatIf - used for previewing a command's actions - never outputs data; instead, the preview information is printed straight to the console, meaning it can neither be sent through the pipeline, nor redirected to file, nor captured.

^{As an aside: Remove-Item without -WhatIf also never produces data output, so there is generally no point in trying to process its output in a subsequent pipeline segment.}

Your best bet is to add an -OutVariable (-ov) common parameter to your Where-Object call, which allows you to export the collected file-info objects via Export-Csv in a separate command:

Get-ChildItem ... | Where-Object -OutVariable filesToRemove { ... } | 
  Remove-Item -WhatIf ...
$filesToRemove | Export-Csv D:\output.csv

The above still prints the preview information to the console, but also collects the [System.IO.FileInfo] objects selected by Where-Object in variable $filesToRemove, which you can then export in CSV format.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Powershell: Export-CSV and OutFile not doing what I expect

1 Answer 1

Comments

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Related