PowerShell ConvertTo-CSV

Let me say right off the bat that wherever possible I prefer to use Export-Csv. This because I usually want to view the results in Excel, rather than to study them at PowerShell’s command line.

Topics for PowerShell’s ConvertTo-CSV

Introduction to ConvertTo-CSV
Example 1: Simple ConvertTo-Csv Cmdlet
Example 2: ConvertTo-Csv Change Delimiter

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Introduction to ConvertTo-CSV

Let us use the output from Get-Service as a vehicle to test ConvertTo-Csv. The idea is to find services that are running (and not stopped), furthermore, let us see if they "CanStop" or "CanShutdown".

$Filter ="Name", "Status", "CanStop", "CanShutdown"
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.status -Match "Running"} `
| Select-Object $Filter

Note 1: This is just to create a stream of services.

Example 1: Simple ConvertTo-Csv Cmdlet

The scripting purpose of this script is to change the output to csv format.

Clear-Host
$Filter ="Name", "Status", "CanStop", "CanShutDown"
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.status -Match "Running"} `
| Select-Object $Filter | ConvertTo-Csv

Note 2: This script returns comma-separated, variable-length (CSV) strings that represents the service objects. However, I would still prefer to use Export-Csv.

Research Parameters for ConvertTo-Csv

# ConvertFrom-Csv Parameters
Get-Help ConvertTo-Csv -Full

Note 3: PowerShell’s help reveals useful parameters such as -NoTypeInformation; you can also replace the comma with other characters thanks to -Delimiter.

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Example 2: ConvertTo-Csv Change Delimiter

Clear-Host
$Filter ="Name", "Status", "CanStop", "CanShutDown"
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.status -Match "Running"} `
| Select-Object $Filter | ConvertTo-Csv -NoTypeInformation -Delimiter "-"

Note 4: You can use almost any keyboard character as a delimiter, for example, "#" or "=". However, it makes little sense to use alphabetic characters!

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Discover Similar Convert Cmdlets

PowerShell has a whole family of Convert parameters, this is how you can get a list:

Clear-Host
Get-Command -Verb Convert* | Format-Table Name

Results:

Name
———————-

ConvertFrom-Csv
ConvertFrom-Json
ConvertFrom-SecureString
ConvertFrom-StringData
Convert-Path
ConvertTo-Csv
ConvertTo-Html
ConvertToDateTime (ScriptMethod)
ConvertTo-Json
ConvertTo-SecureString
ConvertTo-WebApplication (Converts an IIS virtual directory to an IIS Web application.)
ConvertTo-Xml

Summary of PowerShell’s ConvertTo-Csv Cmdlet

While I prefer to use Export-Csv, there are PowerShell tasks which call for manipulating the output in csv format. ConvertTo-Csv returns comma-separated, variable-length (CSV) strings that represents the objects inputted.

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See more Microsoft PowerShell output tutorials:

• PShell Home • Out-GridView • PowerShell Splatting • Read-Host • Write-Host • ConvertTo-Html

• Export-CSV • Import-CSV • PowerShell Write-Progress • PowerShell Measure-Command

• PowerShell 3 -PassThru • PowerShell 3.0 Redirection • ConvertFrom-Csv • Free CSV Import Tool

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.

PowerShell ConvertTo-CSV