Windows PowerShell -Contains
When it comes filtering, or finding data we are spoilt for choice with -Match, -Like and -Contains. While there is overlap, each conditional operator has a distinctive role in PowerShell scripting.
-Contains is best for seeking an exact value. If I want a command to return either True or False, I start with -Contains, whereas, if I want a list of results then I try -Match or -Like.
Topics for PowerShell’s -Contains Conditional Operator
- Example 1: PowerShell -Contains (Basic)
- Example 2: Seeking a Value in a Collection
- Example 3: PowerShell -Contains Spreadsheet
- Example 4: PowerShell -CContains
- Example 5: PowerShell -NotContains
- PowerShell -Match
- PowerShell -Like
Example 1a: PowerShell -Contains
PowerShell uses singular nouns; thus “contains” is a verb, and not a plural noun. A feature of -Contains is that usually returns “True” or “False. If you are looking for a command to return a list of values, then employ -Match or -Like.
# PowerShell -Contains Operator
Clear-Host
$ArraySimple =@("House","Flat","Bungalow")
$ArraySimple -Contains "Flat"
# Result PS> True
Example 1b: PowerShell’s -Contains is Very Strict
-Contains can be frustrating because it’s so picky. After a while you realize that this just a design feature, if you don’t like it, try -Match.
# PowerShell -Contains Operator
Clear-Host
$ArraySimple =@("House","Flats","Bungalow")
$ArraySimple -Contains "Flat"
# Result PS> False
Note 1: -Contains interprets “Flats” and “Flat” as different, thus returns False; it does not matter that Flat is a subset of Flats.
Challenge: Substitute -Match for -Contains.
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Example 2: Seeking a Value in a Collection
-Contains would be my choice of conditional operators for situations where I wanted to test for one particular item in a collection, array or a hashtable.
# PowerShell -Contains
$Collection = "Peter Smith", "Paula Harris", "Joan Evans"
$Collection -Contains "Paula"
# Result PS> False
Note 2: If you coded: $Collection -Contains “Paula Harris”
The result would be: True. You need an exact match of the full item.
Note 3: $Collection -Contains “Paula*” does not help. Wildcards are next to useless with -Contains. Better: try -Match Paula, or -Like Paula*
Example 3: PowerShell -Contains Spreadsheet
Let us assume we wish to search in a file called links.csv. Furthermore, we can use Import-Csv to read the data so that we can test values with -Contains.
Preparation
My spreadsheet is called links.csv
I stored the file in D:\PowerShell
The column name is “Custom channel”
See screenshot to the right.
# PowerShell -Contains Operator
Clear-Host
$File = "D:\Powershell\links.csv"
$Check = (Import-Csv $File)."Custom channel"
$Check -Contains "linktop"
# Result PS> True
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Example 4: PowerShell -CContains
As with PowerShell’s other conditional operators, you can force them to be case sensitivity by preceding the command with a ‘C’; CContains is not a typo!
# PowerShell -Contains Operator Clear-Host $File = "D:\Powershell\links.csv" $Check = (Import-Csv $File)."Custom channel" $Check -CContains "linktop" # Result PS> False
Note 4: The point is that in the spreadsheet the value is clearly ‘LinkTop’, when we force case-sensitivity with CContains, this is not the same as ‘linktop’, hence a False result.
Example 5: PowerShell -NotContains
The negative -NotContains is not as useful as -NotMatch. However, from what we have already learned the syntax is predictable.
# PowerShell -Contains Operator
Clear-Host
$File = "D:\Powershell\links.csv"
$Check = (Import-Csv $File)."Custom channel"
$Check -NotContains "link"
# Result PS> True
Note 5: Remember that with -Contains, and by extension -NotContains, the match has to be exact. There is no ‘Custom channel’ with the name of precisely ‘link’.
See more on PowerShell’s -Like comparisons »
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About_Operators
# For even more information about PowerShell Operators try: Get-Help about_Operators
Here is the List of the Types of PowerShell’s Operators
- Arithmetic (+ * – /)
- Assignment (= also -= +=)
- Comparison ( -Match and -Like; also: -eq -gt)
- Logical ( -And -Not)
- Redirectional ( > )
- Split and Join ( -split)
- Type (-Is -Isnot)
- Unary ($i++)
See also PowerShell’s -Match »
Summary of PowerShell’s -Contains Conditional Operator
When you seek an exact value, then -Contains would be my first choice of conditional operator. -Match or -Like are better suited to scenarios where you only need a partial match, or you need a list of items.
See more Windows PowerShell flow control examples
• PowerShell Home • PowerShell If Statement • PowerShell ElseIf • Free Permissions Analyzer
• Conditional Operators • PowerShell -Match • PowerShell -Like • PowerShell -Contains
• PowerShell Comparison Operators • PowerShell Syntax • Where Filter • PowerShell Else
Please email me if you have a better example script. Also please report any factual mistakes, grammatical errors or broken links, I will be happy to correct the fault.
