Filtering Data

 

SHORT DESCRIPTION

Using the Where-Object Cmdlet to filter data in the Windows PowerShell

 

LONG DESCRIPTION

PowerShell allows you to filter data that is returned by Cmdlets so that you can display only the data that you want to see. Like all actions in PowerShell, filtering data is based on data being passed through the pipeline from one object to the next.

 

As data passes through the pipeline, the Where-Object Cmdlet receives the data from the previous object and then filters the data before passing it on to the next object. The filtering is based on a script block that is defined in the Where-Object command. The script block filters data based on the object's properties and values.

 

The script block contains one or more conditions that each evaluate to true or false. Each condition is an expression that uses a comparison operator to evaluate that condition. If more than one condition exists, those conditions are connected by logical operators, as shown in the following syntax:

 

 

The where keyword is an alias (predefined in PowerShell) for the Where-Object Cmdlet. You can add as many logical operator/condition pairs as necessary to filter the data. Data that meets the conditions specified in the script block are included in the filter.

 

For example, suppose that you want to display a list of system processes that begin with the letters a through m. You can use the Where-Object Cmdlet to specify the search criteria on which to base the returned values, as shown in the following command:

 

 

The first part of this command is the Get-Process Cmdlet which retrieves all process-related data. That data is sent down the pipeline to the next object, which is the Where-Object Cmdlet (after the pipe symbol). The Where-Object command includes only one condition within the braces, so no logical operator is needed. The following table describe each element of the Where-Object command:

 

Element	Description
where	Alias for the Where-Object Cmdlet
{ }	The braces enclosing the script block that defines the filter
$_	A variable automatically initiated and bound to the current pipeline object processname A property of the current pipeline object that stores the name of the process. When used with the $_ variable, a period precedes the property name.
-like	A comparison operator that supports wildcard matching
"[a-m]*"	A range wildcard ([a-m]) and a * wildcard. The wildcards specify that all processes beginning with the letters a through m are returned, regardless of the rest of the characters in the process name.

 

You can also create a predefined filter by creating a special type of function. When defining the function, you must specify that it is a filter. For the function script block, enter the script block as you saw in the preceding example. For instance, the following command creates a filter named process-a-m:

 

 

You can then use the filter name in your Where-Object command to retrieve the filtered data, as shown in the following example:

 

 

The values returned by the command are the same as they would have been had you specified the conditions in the script block, without the use of a filter.

 

SEE ALSO

For information about the Where-Object Cmdlet, enter the following command at the PowerShell command prompt:

 

 

For information about comparison operators, enter the following command:

 

 

For information about logical operators, enter the following command:

 

 

For information about wildcards, enter the following command:

 

 

For information about functions, enter the following command: