Clixml | Easy Powershell 2.0 Reference

SYNOPSIS
Imports a CLIXML file and creates corresponding objects within Windows PowerShell.

SYNTAX
Import-Clixml [-Path] <string[]> [<CommonParameters>]

DESCRIPTION
The Import-Clixml cmdlet imports a CLIXML file with data that represents Microsoft .NET Framework objects and creates the objects in Windows PowerShell.

PARAMETERS
-Path <string[]>
Specifies the location of the XML files to be converted into Windows PowerShell objects.

        Required?                    true
        Position?                    1
        Default value
        Accept pipeline input?     true (ByValue, ByPropertyName)
        Accept wildcard characters? false

    <CommonParameters>
        This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,
        ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,
        OutBuffer and OutVariable. For more information, type,
        “Get-Help about_CommonParameters“.

INPUTS
System.String
You can pipe a string that contains a path to Import-Clixml.

OUTPUTS
PSObject
Import-Clixml returns objects that have been deserialized from the stored XML files.

NOTES

When specifying multiple values for a parameter, use commas to separate the values. For example, “<parameter-name> <value1>, <value2>”.

————————– EXAMPLE 1 ————————–

C:\PS>Get-Process | Export-Clixml pi.xml

C:\PS> $processes = Import-Clixml pi.xml

    Description
    ———–
    This command uses the Export-Clixml cmdlet to save a serialized copy of the process information returned by Get-Process. It then uses Import-Clixml to retrieve the contents of the serialized file and re-create an object that is stored in the $processes Variable.

RELATED LINKS
Online version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113340

NAME
Export-Clixml

SYNOPSIS
Creates an XML-based representation of an object or objects and stores it in a file.

SYNTAX
Export-Clixml [-Path] <string> -InputObject <psobject> [-Depth <int>] [-Encoding <string>] [-Force] [-NoClobber] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]

DESCRIPTION
The Export-Clixml cmdlet creates an XML-based representation of an object or objects and stores it in a file. You can then use the Import-Clixml cmdlet to re-create the saved object based on the contents of that file.

This cmdlet is similar to ConvertTo-Xml, except that Export-Clixml stores the resulting XML in a file. ConvertTo-Xml returns the XML, so you can continue to process it in Windows PowerShell.

PARAMETERS
-Depth <int>
Specifies how many levels of contained objects are included in the XML representation. The default value is 2.

The default value can be overridden for the object type in the Types.ps1xml files. For more information, see about_types.ps1xml.

        Required?                    false
        Position?                    named
        Default value                2
        Accept pipeline input?     false
        Accept wildcard characters? false

-Encoding <string>
Specifies the type of encoding for the target file. Valid values are ASCII, UTF8, UTF7, UTF32, Unicode, BigEndianUnicode, Default, and OEM. UTF8 is the default.

        Required?                    false
        Position?                    named
        Default value                UTF8
        Accept pipeline input?     false
        Accept wildcard characters? false

-Force [<SwitchParameter>]
Causes the cmdlet to clear the read-only attribute of the output file if necessary. The cmdlet will attempt to reset the read-only attribute when the command completes.

        Required?                    false
        Position?                    named
        Default value
        Accept pipeline input?     false
        Accept wildcard characters? false

-InputObject <psobject>
Specifies the object to be converted. Enter a Variable that contains the objects, or type a command or expression that gets the objects. You can also pipe objects to Export-Clixml.

        Required?                    true
        Position?                    named
        Default value
        Accept pipeline input?     true (ByValue)
        Accept wildcard characters? false

-NoClobber [<SwitchParameter>]
Ensures that the cmdlet does not overwrite the contents of an existing file. By default, if a file exists in the specified path, Export-Clixml overwrites the file without warning.

        Required?                    false
        Position?                    named
        Default value
        Accept pipeline input?     false
        Accept wildcard characters? false

-Path <string>
Specifies the path to the file where the XML representation of the object will be stored.

        Required?                    true
        Position?                    1
        Default value
        Accept pipeline input?     false
        Accept wildcard characters? false

-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]
Prompts you for confirmation before executing the command.

        Required?                    false
        Position?                    named
        Default value
        Accept pipeline input?     false
        Accept wildcard characters? false

-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]
Describes what would happen if you executed the command without actually executing the command.

        Required?                    false
        Position?                    named
        Default value
        Accept pipeline input?     false
        Accept wildcard characters? false

INPUTS
System.Management.Automation.PSObject
You can pipe any object to Export-Clixml.

OUTPUTS
System.IO.FileInfo
Export-Clixml creates a file that contains the XML.

NOTES

————————– EXAMPLE 1 ————————–

C:\PS>”This is a test” | Export-Clixml sample.xml

    Description
    ———–
    This command creates an XML file that stores a representation of the string, “This is a test”.

————————– EXAMPLE 2 ————————–

C:\PS>Get-Acl C:\test.txt | Export-Clixml -Path fileacl.xml

C:\PS> $fileacl = Import-Clixml fileacl.xml

    Description
    ———–
    This example shows how to export an object to an XML file and then create an object by importing the XML from the file.

The first command uses the Get-Acl cmdlet to get the security descriptor of the Test.txt file. It uses a pipeline operator to pass the security descriptor to Export-Clixml, which stores an XML-based representation of the object in a file named FileACL.xml.

The second command uses the Import-Clixml cmdlet to create an object from the XML in the FileACL.xml file. Then, it saves the object in the $FileAcl Variable.

RELATED LINKS
    Online version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113297
    Import-Clixml
    ConvertTo-Xml
    Export-Csv
    ConvertTo-Html