{"id":3462,"date":"2013-09-27T10:11:20","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T14:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jdhitsolutions.com\/blog\/?p=3462"},"modified":"2015-10-23T12:57:39","modified_gmt":"2015-10-23T16:57:39","slug":"friday-fun-out-conditionalcolor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jdhitsolutions.com\/blog\/powershell\/3462\/friday-fun-out-conditionalcolor\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Fun: Out-ConditionalColor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I posted a Friday Fun article<\/a> on parsing results from Invoke-Webrequest and displaying matching strings in color so that the book titles I'm interested in stand out. But the more I thought about it I realized I should take this a step further. The problem with Write-Host is that it doesn't write anything to the pipeline which is why we typically frown upon its use. Although being able to use color to highlight something is very cool. I wanted color and pipelined output. Here's my result.<\/p>\n

#requires -version 3.0\r\n\r\nFunction Out-ConditionalColor {\r\n<#\r\n.Synopsis\r\nDisplay colorized pipelined output.\r\n.Description\r\nThis command is designed to take pipeline input and display it in a colorized\r\nformat, based on a set of conditions. Unlike Write-Host which doesn't write to\r\nthe pipeline, this command will write to the pipeline. You can get colorized \r\ndata and save the output to a variable at the same time, although you'll need\r\nto use the common OutVariable parameter (see examples).\r\n\r\nThe default behavior is to use a hash table with a property name and color. \r\nThe color must be one of the standard console colors used with Write-Host.\r\n\r\n$c = @{Stopped='Red';Running='Green'}\r\n\r\nYou can then pipe an expression to this command, specifying a property name and\r\nthe hash table. If the property matches the key name, the output for that object\r\nwill be colored using the corresponding hash table value.\r\n\r\nget-service -diplayname windows* | out-conditionalcolor $c status \r\n\r\nOr you can do more complex processing with an ordered hash table constructed \r\nusing this format:\r\n\r\n[ordered]@{ <comparison scriptblock> = <color>}\r\n\r\nThe comparison scriptblock can use $PSitem.\r\n\r\n$h=[ordered]@{\r\n{$psitem.ws -gt 200mb}='yellow'\r\n{$psitem.vm -gt 500mb}='red'\r\n{$psitem.cpu -gt 300}='cyan'\r\n}\r\n\r\nWhen doing a complex comparison you must use an [ordered] hashtable as each key \r\nwill be processed in order using an If\/ElseIf statement.\r\n\r\nThis command should be the last part of any pipelined expression. If you pipe\r\nto anything else, such as Sort-Object, you will lose your color formatting. Do\r\nany other sorting or filtering before piping to this command.\r\n\r\nThis command requires PowerShell 3.0 and works best in the PowerShell console.\r\n.Parameter Conditions\r\nUse a simple hashtable for basic processing or an ordered hash table for complex.\r\n.Parameter Property\r\nWhen using a simple hash table, specify the property to compare using the -eq\r\noperator. If you don't specify a property you will be prompted.\r\n.Example\r\nPS C:\\> get-service -displayname windows* | out-conditionalcolor -conditions @{Stopped='Red'} -property Status\r\n\r\nGet all services where the displayname starts with windows and display stopped services in red.\r\n.Example\r\nPS C:\\> get-service -displayname windows* | out-conditionalcolor @{Stopped='Red'} status -ov winstop\r\n\r\nRepeat the previous example, but save the output to the variable winstop. When\r\nyou look at $Winstop you'll see the services, but they won't be colored. This \r\nexample uses the parameters positionally.\r\n.Example\r\nPS C:\\> get-eventlog system -newest 50 | out-conditionalcolor @{error='red';warning='yellow'}\r\nEnter a property name: entrytype\r\n\r\nGet the newest 50 entries from the System event log. Display errors in red and warnings in yellow.\r\nIf you don't specify a property you will be prompted.\r\n.Example\r\nPS C:\\> $c =[ordered]@{{$psitem.length -ge 1mb}='red';{$psitem.length -ge 500KB}='yellow';{$psitem.length -ge 100KB}='cyan'}\r\nPS C:\\> dir c:\\scripts\\*.doc,c:\\scripts\\*.pdf,c:\\scripts\\*.xml | Select Name,LastWriteTime,Length | out-conditionalcolor $c\r\n\r\nThe first command creates an ordered hashtable based on the Length property. \r\nThe second command uses it to et certain file types in the scripts folder and \r\ndisplay the selected properties in color depending on the file size.\r\n.Notes\r\nLast Updated: 9\/17\/2013\r\nVersion     : 0.9\r\n\r\nLearn more about PowerShell:\r\n
Essential PowerShell Learning Resources<\/a><\/blockquote>