#requires -version 2.0

<#
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Script: Translate-ToChar.ps1
 Version: 1.0
 Author: Jeffery Hicks
    http://jdhitsolutions.com/blog
    http://twitter.com/JeffHicks
    http://www.ScriptingGeek.com
 Date: 9/22/2011
 Keywords:
 Comments:

 "Those who forget to script are doomed to repeat their work."

  ****************************************************************
  * DO NOT USE IN A PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT UNTIL YOU HAVE TESTED *
  * THOROUGHLY IN A LAB ENVIRONMENT. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.  IF   *
  * YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS SCRIPT DOES OR HOW IT WORKS, *
  * DO NOT USE IT OUTSIDE OF A SECURE, TEST SETTING.             *
  ****************************************************************
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 #>
 

<#
  .Synopsis
  Take a text string and convert it to a CHAR Array.
  .Description
  Take a string message and convert it into an array of CHAR values or create
  a scriptblock using the -Join operator to reconstitute the original message.
  .Parameter Text
  The message to convert. The default is "PowerShell Rocks!"
  .Parameter Scriptblock
  Instead of writing an array of char values, write a scriptblock to the pipeline.
  For example, this would be the output using the default value for Text:
  
  -join [char[]](80,111,119,101,114,83,104,101,108,108,0,82,111,99,107,115,33)
  .Example
  PS C:\> c:\scripts\translate-char.ps1 "Nothing but shell!" -scriptblock
  -join [char[]](78,111,116,104,105,110,103,0,98,117,116,0,115,104,101,108,108,33)
  
  .Example
  PS C:\> $arr=c:\scripts\translate-char.ps1 "TGIF! Who's got the first round?"
  
  Save the CHAR array to a variable so it can be used later, perhaps like this:
  
  PS C:\scripts> write-host (-join [char[]]$arr) -fore green
  TGIF! Who's got the first round?

#>

[cmdletbinding()]

Param(
 [Parameter(Position=0)]
 [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
 [string]$Text="PowerShell Rocks!",
 [switch]$Scriptblock
)

#create CHAR mapping hash table
$map=@{}
33..125 | foreach { $map.Add([string]$_,[char]$_)}

#create an empty array to hold the CHAR values
$values=@()
$text.ToCharArray() | foreach {
  #because $_ will change, save the current piped in character as a variable
  $ltr=$_
  [int]$i=($map.getEnumerator() | where {$_.value -ceq $ltr }).Name 
  #add the value to the array
  $values+=$i
}

if ($ScriptBlock) {
    #write a scriptblock to the pipeline
    #set the output field separator to a comma
    $ofs=","
    #create a variable so we get variable expansion of $values
    $t="-join [char[]]($values)"

    #put it back together as a script block and write to the pipeline
    [scriptblock]::Create($t)
 }
else {
    #write value array to the pipeline
    $values
}

#end