Export-CSV exports length but not name

Question

I have this code that I am running from powershell. When I run it without the export-csv i get all the folder names on the screen.

dir | select -expand fulln         


        

Answer 1

The previous answer does work, but what if someone was looking to output it into a CSV file.


This does NOT work:

$str_list = @('Mark','Henry','John')
$str_list | Export-Csv .\ExportStrList.csv -NoType

Because Export-Csv takes Objects and outputs properties. The only properties for a String[ ] is Length, so the CSV file only contains Lengths.

To fix this we need to change the String[ ] into an Object[ ]. The simplest way is with Select-Object.


Put each String into the Name property of a new Object[ ], like this:

$str_list = @('Mark','Henry','John')
$obj_list = $str_list | Select-Object @{Name='Name';Expression={$_}}
$obj_list | Export-Csv .\ExportStrList.csv -NoType

Just to re-iterate, Select-Object outputs a custom PSObject that can easily be manipulated. This is very powerful information, use it wisely.