tostka / ConvertFrom-SourceTable

Converts a source table (format-table) or markdown table to objects

ConvertFrom-SourceTable

Converts a fixed column table to objects.

The ConvertFrom-SourceTable cmdlet creates objects from a fixed column source table (format-table) possibly surrounded by horizontal and/or vertical rulers. The ConvertFrom-SourceTable cmdlet supports most data types using the following formatting and alignment rules:

Data that is left aligned will be parsed to the generic column type which is a string by default.

Data that is right aligned will be evaluated.

Data that is justified (using the full column with) is following the the header alignment and evaluated if the header is right aligned.

The default column type can be set by prefixing the column name with a standard (PowerShell) cast operator (a data type enclosed in square brackets, e.g.: [Int]ID)

Definitions

The width of a source table column is outlined by the header width, the ruler width and the width of the data.

Column and Data alignment (none, left, right or justified) is defined by the existence of a character at the start or end of a column.

Column alignment (which is used for a default field alignment) is defined by the first and last character or space of the header and the ruler of the outlined column.

Examples

PS C:\> $Colors = ConvertFrom-SourceTable '
	Name       Value         RGB
	----       -----         ---
	Black   0x000000       0,0,0
	White   0xFFFFFF 255,255,255
	Red     0xFF0000     255,0,0
	Lime    0x00FF00     0,255,0
	Blue    0x0000FF     0,0,255
	Yellow  0xFFFF00   255,255,0
	Cyan    0x00FFFF   0,255,255
	Magenta 0xFF00FF   255,0,255
	Silver  0xC0C0C0 192,192,192
	Gray    0x808080 128,128,128
	Maroon  0x800000     128,0,0
	Olive   0x808000   128,128,0
	Green   0x008000     0,128,0
	Purple  0x800080   128,0,128
	Teal    0x008080   0,128,128
	Navy    0x000080     0,0,128
'

PS C:\> $Colors | Where {$_.Name -eq "Red"}

Name    Value RGB
----    ----- ---
Red  16711680 {255, 0, 0}

PS C:\> $Employees = ConvertFrom-SourceTable '
	| Department  | Name    | Country |
	| ----------- | ------- | ------- |
	| Sales       | Aerts   | Belgium |
	| Engineering | Bauer   | Germany |
	| Sales       | Cook    | England |
	| Engineering | Duval   | France  |
	| Marketing   | Evans   | England |
	| Engineering | Fischer | Germany |
'

PS C:\> $ChangeLog = ConvertFrom-SourceTable '
	[Version] [DateTime]Date Author      Comments
	--------- -------------- ------      --------
	0.0.10    2018-05-03     Ronald Bode First design
	0.0.20    2018-05-09     Ronald Bode Pester ready version
	0.0.21    2018-05-09     Ronald Bode removed support for String[] types
	0.0.22    2018-05-24     Ronald Bode Better "right aligned" definition
	0.0.23    2018-05-25     Ronald Bode Resolved single column bug
	0.0.24    2018-05-26     Ronald Bode Treating markdown table input as an option
	0.0.25    2018-05-27     Ronald Bode Resolved error due to blank top lines
'

PS C:\> $Files = ConvertFrom-SourceTable -Literal '
	Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
	----                -------------         ------ ----
	d----l       11/16/2018   8:30 PM                Archive
	-a---l        5/22/2018  12:05 PM          (726) Build-Expression.ps1
	-a---l       11/16/2018   7:38 PM           2143 CHANGELOG
	-a---l       11/17/2018  10:42 AM          14728 ConvertFrom-SourceTable.ps1
	-a---l       11/17/2018  11:04 AM          23909 ConvertFrom-SourceTable.Tests.ps1
	-a---l         8/4/2018  11:04 AM         (6237) Import-SourceTable.ps1
'

Parameters

-InputObject <String[]>
Specifies the source table strings to be converted to objects. Enter a variable that contains the source table strings or type a command or expression that gets the source table strings. You can also pipe the source table strings to ConvertFrom-SourceTable.

Note that streamed table rows are intermediately processed and released for the next cmdlet. In this mode, there is a higher possibility that floating tables or column data cannot be determined to be part of a specific column (as there is no overview of the table data that follows). To resolve this, use one of the folowing ruler or header specific parameters.

-Header <String[]>
A string that defines the header line of an headless table or a multiple strings where each item represents the column name. In case the header contains a single string, it is used to define the (property) names, the size and alignment of the column, therefore it is key that the columns names are properly aligned with the rest of the column (including any table indents). If the header contains multiple strings, each string will be used to define the property names of each object. In this case, column alignment is based on the rest of the data and possible ruler.

-Ruler <String>
A string that replaces any ruler in the input table which helps to define character columns in occasions where the table column margins are indefinable.

-HorizontalDash <Char>
(Alias -HDash) defines the horizontal ruler character. By default, each streamed table row (or a total raw table) will be searched for a ruler existing out of horizontal dash characters (-), spaces and possible vertical dashes. If the ruler is found, the prior line is presumed to be the header. If the ruler is not found within the first (two) streamed data lines, the first line is presumed the header line.
If -HorizontalDash explicitly defined, all (streamed) lines will be searched for a matching ruler.
If -HorizontalDash is set to $Null, the first data line is presumed the header line (unless the -VerticalDash parameter is set).

-VerticalDash <Char>
(Alias -VDash) defines the vertical ruler character. By default, each streamed table row (or a total raw table) will be searched for a header with vertical dash characters (|). If the header is not found within the first streamed data line, the first line is presumed the header line.
If -VerticalDash explicitly defined, all (streamed) lines will be searched for a header with a vertical dash character.
If -VerticalDash is set to $Null, the first data line is presumed the header line (unless the -HorizontalDash parameter is set).

-Junction <Char>
The -Junction parameter (default: +) defines the character used for the junction between the horizontal ruler and vertical ruler.

-Anchor <Char>
The -Anchor parameter (default: :) defines the character used for the alignedment anchor. If used in the header row, it will be used to define the default alignment, meaning that justified (full width) values will be evaluted.

-Omit <String>
A string of characters to omit from the header and data. Each omitted character will be replaced with a space.

-Literal
The -Literal parameter will prevent any right aligned data to be evaluated.

Links

Online Version: https://github.com/iRon7/ConvertFrom-SourceTable