Powershell Read A Text File

I get a lot of data in different formats for a lot of different users. Nothing is ever perfect. This is the simple script I use to begin the process of reading files:

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#File parameter Param( [String] $file ) #Get the current directory $scriptDir = Split-Path -Path $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Definition -Parent #Build Full Path $filePath = $scriptDir + "\" + $file #Get File Contents $content = Get-Content -Path $filePath #Get Max number of rows $intRowMax = $content.count #loop through rows for($intRow = 0 ; $intRow -lt $intRowMax ; $intRow++) { #display Write-Host $content[$intRow] } #Alternative Write-Host "`n**********Alternative*******" foreach($line in Get-Content $filePath) { #display Write-Host $line }

Pretty straightforward example. I added an alternative that uses a foreach with the Get-Content command. Call this script from the local directory with both files (But obviously you can easily modify to call a file in a different location)

I don't do any error catching here, because I'm lazy and if it fails to read the file I get to see the ugly error. It is not a production script.

NOTE: Get-Content command output is a list of strings, not the whole contents of the file. You can just write $content, because it is smart enough to know what you are trying to do, but it is frowned upon. Read this article for more information