CSV parsing

Basic usage of Import-Csv

Given the following CSV-file

String,DateTime,Integer
First,2016-12-01T12:00:00,30
Second,2015-12-01T12:00:00,20
Third,2015-12-01T12:00:00,20

One can import the CSV rows in PowerShell objects using the Import-Csv command

> $listOfRows = Import-Csv .\example.csv
> $listOfRows

String DateTime            Integer
------ --------            -------
First  2016-12-01T12:00:00 30     
Second 2015-11-03T13:00:00 20     
Third  2015-12-05T14:00:00 20 

> Write-Host $row[0].String1
Third

Import from CSV and cast properties to correct type

By default, Import-CSV imports all values as strings, so to get DateTime- and integer-objects, we need to cast or parse them.

Using Foreach-Object:

> $listOfRows = Import-Csv .\example.csv
> $listOfRows | ForEach-Object {
    #Cast properties
    $_.DateTime = [datetime]$_.DateTime
    $_.Integer = [int]$_.Integer

    #Output object
    $_
}

Using calculated properties:

> $listOfRows = Import-Csv .\example.csv
> $listOfRows | Select-Object String,
    @{name="DateTime";expression={ [datetime]$_.DateTime }},
    @{name="Integer";expression={ [int]$_.Integer }}

Output:

String DateTime            Integer
------ --------            -------
First  01.12.2016 12:00:00      30
Second 03.11.2015 13:00:00      20
Third  05.12.2015 14:00:00      20