Gee..you think you know something only to find out you don\u2019t. Or maybe this falls into the category of teaching an old dog new tricks. <\/p>\n
When I first started using PowerShell several years ago, I learned about how to convert a WMI date to a more user friendly format. For example, this is not especially easy to read:<\/p>\n
PS C:\\> (gwmi win32_operatingsystem).lastbootuptime However, all WMI objects in PowerShell have a ConvertToDateTime()<\/strong> method. I simply got in the habit of using Select-Object to define a custom property with the re-formatted date. <\/p>\n PS C:\\> gwmi win32_operatingsystem | Select Caption,@{name="LastBoot"; Caption LastBoot There\u2019s nothing technically wrong with this approach. This method was added so that administrators who knew nothing about .NET, like myself at the time, would have a relative easy way of converting WMI datetime strings. But once you learn more PowerShell you discover where this method comes from.<\/p>\n In the types.ps1xml file, you will find the ConvertToDateTime()<\/strong> method defined for all WMI objects.<\/p>\n <Name>ConvertToDateTime<\/Name> The method is simply calling the System.Management.ManagementDateTimeConverter objects ToDateTIme()<\/strong> method. Once you realize this my original expression can also be written:<\/p>\n PS C:\\> gwmi win32_operatingsystem | Select Caption,@{name="LastBoot"; Caption LastBoot Whether that is easier to type or understand may be a matter of personal preference. However if I am presented with a WMI datetime string, perhaps from another object or maybe a log file, I can now easily convert it.<\/p>\n PS C:\\> $x="20090708102530.360000-240" Wednesday, July 08, 2009 10:25:30 AM<\/font><\/p>\n So if you have some old habits, now may be the time to check them and discover if perhaps there is a better or different way to accomplish something, especially with the impending arrival of PowerShell v2.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gee..you think you know something only to find out you don\u2019t. Or maybe this falls into the category of teaching an old dog new tricks. <\/p>\n When I first started using PowerShell several years ago, I learned about how to convert a WMI date to a more user friendly format…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,8,19],"tags":[70,534,540,71,547],"class_list":["post-170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-powershell","category-scripting","category-wmi","tag-datetime","tag-powershell","tag-scripting","tag-system-management","tag-wmi"],"yoast_head":"\n
20090804133238.086379-240<\/font> <\/p>\n
>> Expression={$_.ConvertToDateTime($_.LastBootUpTime)}}
>><\/font><\/p>\n
------- --------
Microsoft Windows XP Professional 8\/4\/2009 1:32:38 PM<\/font><\/p>\n
[System.Management.ManagementDateTimeConverter]::ToDateTime($args[0])<\/font><\/p>\n
>> Expression={[System.Management.ManagementDateTimeConverter]::ToDateTime(
>> $_.LastBootUpTime)
>> }}
>> <\/font><\/p>\n
------- --------
Microsoft Windows XP Professional 8\/4\/2009 1:32:38 PM<\/font><\/p>\n
PS C:\\> [system.management.managementDateTimeConverter]::ToDateTime($x) <\/font><\/p>\n