about_Split
Applies To: Windows PowerShell 2.0
TOPIC
about_Split
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Explains how to use the Split operator to split one or more strings into
substrings.
LONG DESCRIPTION
The Split operator splits one or more strings into substrings. You can
change the following elements of the Split operation:
-- Delimiter. The default is whitespace, but you can specify characters,
strings, patterns, or script blocks that specify the delimiter.
-- Maximum number of substrings. The default is to return all substrings. If
you specify a number less than the number of substrings, the remaining
substrings are concatenated in the last substring.
-- Options that specify the conditions under which the delimiter is matched,
such as SimpleMatch and Multiline.
SYNTAX
The following diagram shows the syntax for the -split operator.
The parameter names do not appear in the command. Include only the
parameter values. The values must appear in the order specified in the
syntax diagram.
-Split <String>
<String> -Split <Delimiter>[,<Max-substrings>[,"<Options>"]]
<String> -Split {<ScriptBlock>} [,<Max-substrings>]
You can substitute -iSplit or -cSplit for -split in any binary Split statement
(a Split statement that includes a delimiter or script block). The -iSplit and
-split operators are case-insensitive. The -cSplit operator is case-sensitive,
meaning that case is considered when the delimiter rules are applied.
PARAMETERS
<String>
Specifies one or more strings to be split. If you submit multiple
strings, all the strings are split using the same delimiter rules.
Example:
-split "red yellow blue green"
red
yellow
blue
green
<Delimiter>
The characters that identify the end of a substring. The default
delimiter is whitespace, including spaces and non-printable characters, such
as newline (`n) and tab (`t). When the strings are split, the delimiter
is omitted from all the substrings. Example:
"Lastname:FirstName:Address" -split ":"
Lastname
FirstName
Address
By default, the delimiter is omitted from the results. To preserve all or
part of the delimiter, enclose in parentheses the part that you want to
preserve. Examples:
"Lastname:FirstName:Address" -split "(:)"
Lastname
:
FirstName
:
Address
"Lastname/:/FirstName/:/Address" -split "/(:)/"
Lastname
:
FirstName
:
Address
<Max-substrings>
Specifies the maximum number of substrings returned. The default is
all the substrings split by the delimiter. If there are more substrings,
they are concatenated to the final substring. If there are fewer
substrings, all the substrings are returned. A value of 0 and negative values return
all the substrings.
If you submit more than one string (an array of strings) to the Split operator ,
the Max-substrings limit is applied to each string separately. Example:
$c = "Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune"
$c -split ",", 5
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune
<ScriptBlock>
An expression that specifies rules for applying the delimiter. The
expression must evaluate to $true or $false. Enclose the script
block in braces. Example:
$c = "Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune"
$c -split {$_ -eq "e" -or $_ -eq "p"}
M
rcury,V
nus,Earth,Mars,Ju
it
r,Saturn,Uranus,N
tun
<Options>
Enclose the option name in quotation marks. Options are valid only
when the <Max-substrings> parameter is used in the statement.
The syntax for the Options parameter is:
"SimpleMatch [,IgnoreCase]"
"[RegexMatch] [,IgnoreCase] [,CultureInvariant]
[,IgnorePatternWhitespace] [,ExplicitCapture]
[,Singleline | ,Multiline]"
The SimpleMatch options are:
-- SimpleMatch: Use simple string comparison when evaluating the
delimiter. Cannot be used with RegexMatch.
-- IgnoreCase: Forces case-insensitive matching, even if the -cSplit
operator is specified.
The RegexMatch options are:
-- RegexMatch: Use regular expression matching to evaluate the
delimiter. This is the default behavior. Cannot be used with
SimpleMatch.
-- IgnoreCase: Forces case-insensitive matching, even if the -cSplit
operator is specified.
-- CultureInvariant: Ignores cultural differences in language
when evaluting the delimiter. Valid only with RegexMatch.
-- IgnorePatternWhitespace: Ignores unescaped whitespace and
comments marked with the number sign (#). Valid only with
RegexMatch.
-- Multiline: Multiline mode recognizes the start and end of lines
and strings. Valid only with RegexMatch. Singleline is the default.
-- Singleline: Singleline mode recognizes only the start and end of
strings. Valid only with RegexMatch. Singleline is the default.
-- ExplicitCapture: Ignores non-named match groups so that only
explicit capture groups are returned in the result list. Valid
only with RegexMatch.
UNARY and BINARY SPLIT OPERATORS
The unary split operator (-split <string>) has higher precedence than a
comma. As a result, if you submit a comma-separated list of strings to the
unary split operator, only the first string (before the first comma) is
split.
To split more than one string, use the binary split operator
(<string> -split <delimiter>). Enclose all the strings in parentheses,
or store the strings in a variable, and then submit the variable to the
split operator.
Consider the following example:
-split "1 2", "a b"
1
2
a b
"1 2", "a b" -split " "
1
2
a
b
-split ("1 2", "a b")
1
2
a
b
$a = "1 2", "a b"
-split $a
1
2
a
b
EXAMPLES
The following statement splits the string at whitespace.
C:\PS> -split "Windows PowerShell 2.0`nWindows PowerShell with remoting"
Windows
PowerShell
2.0
Windows
PowerShell
with
remoting
The following statement splits the string at any comma.
C:\PS> "Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune" -split ','
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
The following statement splits the string at the pattern "er".
C:\PS>"Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune" -split 'er'
M
cury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupit
,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune
The following statement performs a case-sensitive split at the
letter "N".
C:\PS> "Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune" -cSplit 'N'
Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,
eptune
The following statement splits the string at "e" and "t".
C:\PS> "Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune" -split '[et]'
M
rcury,V
nus,
ar
h,Mars,Jupi
r,Sa
urn,Uranus,N
p
un
The following statement splits the string at "e" and "r", but limits the
resulting substrings to six substrings.
C:\PS> "Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune" -split '[er]', 6
M
cu
y,V
nus,
arth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune
The following statement splits a string into three substrings.
C:\PS> "a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h" -split ",", 3
a
b
c,d,e,f,g,h
The following statement splits two strings into three substrings.
(The limit is applied to each string independently.)
C:\PS> "a,b,c,d", "e,f,g,h" -split ",", 3
a
b
c,d
e
f
g,h
The following statement splits each line in the here-string at the
first digit. It uses the Multiline option to recognize the beginning
of each line and string.
The 0 represents the "return all" value of the Max-substrings parameter. You can
use options, such as Multiline, only when the Max-substrings value
is specified.
C:\PS> $a = @'
1The first line.
2The second line.
3The third of three lines.
'@
C:\PS> $a -split "^\d", 0, "multiline"
The first line.
The second line.
The third of three lines.
The following statement uses the SimpleMatch option to direct the -split
operator to interpret the dot (.) delimiter literally.
With the default, RegexMatch, the dot enclosed in quotation marks (".") is
interpreted to match any character except for a newline character. As a
result, the Split statement returns a blank line for every character except
newline.
The 0 represents the "return all" value of the Max-substrings parameter.
You can use options, such as SimpleMatch, only when the Max-substrings
value is specified.
C:\PS> "This.is.a.test" -split ".", 0, "simplematch"
This
is
a
test
The following statement splits the string at one of two delimiters,
depending on the value of a variable.
C:\PS> $i = 1
C:\PS> $c = "LastName, FirstName; Address, City, State, Zip"
C:\PS> $c -split {if ($i -lt 1) {$_ -eq ","} else {$_ -eq ";"}}
LastName, FirstName
Address, City, State, Zip
The following split statements split an XML file first at the angle bracket
and then at the semicolon. The result is a readable version of the XML
file.
C:\PS> get-process powershell | export-clixml ps.xml
C:\PS> $x = import-clixml ps.xml
C:\PS> $x = $x -split "<"
C:\PS> $x = $x -split ";"
To display the result, type "$x".
C:\PS> $x
@{__NounName=Process
Name=powershell
Handles=428
VM=150081536
WS=34840576
PM=36253696
...
SEE ALSO
Split-Path
about_Operators
about_Comparison_Operators
about_Join