Sorting PowerShell versions

Question

In PowerShell, if I have a list of strings containing versions, \"3.0.1.1\", \"3.2.1.1\", etc., how can I sort it the way System.Version would sort it in C#?

Answer 1

# I needed to sort historical versions (Octopus) with varying decimal formats.
# Try # this (it is easy to add to a more complex expression sort)
# Special Case "3.00.1.10.1.10" and "3.0.1.10.1.10" required the double sort
# to work correctly
    $vers = @()`enter code here`
    $vers +=  @( "3.1.60",      "3.1.52","3.1.51")
    $vers +=  @( "3.00.46",     "3.00.36","3.50.2145.11")
    $vers +=  @( "3.50.2145.10","3.50.2145.9")
    $vers +=  @( "3.50.2145.8", "3.50.2145.7")
    $vers +=  @( "3.50.2145.6", "3.50.2145.5")
    $vers +=  @( "3.50.2145.4", "3.50.2145.3")
    $vers +=  @( "3.50.2145.2", "3.50.2145.1")
    $vers +=  @( "3.50.2145",   "3.50.2143")
    $vers +=  @( "3.50.2141",    "3.50.2135")    
    $vers +=  @( "3.0.1.10.1.1", "3.00.1.10.1.10")
    $vers +=  @( "2.1.3.4",      "3.0","3.")
    $vers +=  @( "3.0.1.10.1.100","3.0.1.10.1.10")
    $mySortAsc = @{Expression={ [regex]::Replace($_ ,'\d+', { $args[0].Value.PadLeft(20,'0') }) };Descending=$false}
    $mySortDesc = @{Expression={ [regex]::Replace($_ ,'\d+', { $args[0].Value.PadLeft(20,'0') }) };Descending=$true}    
    $nl = [Environment]::NewLine
    Write-Output ($nl + "Ascending Sort" + $nl);
    $vers | Sort-Object | Sort-Object $mySortAsc
    Write-Output ($nl + "Descending Sort" + $nl);
    $vers | Sort-Object -Descending | Sort-Object $mySortDesc
<# Result
Ascending Sort

2.1.3.4
3.
3.0
3.0.1.10.1.1
3.0.1.10.1.10
3.00.1.10.1.10
3.0.1.10.1.100
3.00.36
3.00.46
3.1.51
3.1.52
3.1.60
3.50.2135
3.50.2141
3.50.2143
3.50.2145
3.50.2145.1
3.50.2145.2
3.50.2145.3
3.50.2145.4
3.50.2145.5
3.50.2145.6
3.50.2145.7
3.50.2145.8
3.50.2145.9
3.50.2145.10
3.50.2145.11

Descending Sort

3.50.2145.11
3.50.2145.10
3.50.2145.9
3.50.2145.8
3.50.2145.7
3.50.2145.6
3.50.2145.5
3.50.2145.4
3.50.2145.3
3.50.2145.2
3.50.2145.1
3.50.2145
3.50.2143
3.50.2141
3.50.2135
3.1.60
3.1.52
3.1.51
3.00.46
3.00.36
3.0.1.10.1.100
3.00.1.10.1.10
3.0.1.10.1.10
3.0.1.10.1.1
3.0
3.
2.1.3.4
#>