Category Archives: Wide

Format-Wide

NAME
    Format-Wide

SYNOPSIS
    Formats objects as a wide table that displays only one property of each object.

SYNTAX
    Format-Wide [[-Property] <Object>] [-AutoSize] [-Column <int>] [-DisplayError] [-Expand <string>] [-Force] [-GroupBy <Object>] [-InputObject <psobject>] [-ShowError] [-View <string>] [<CommonParameters>]

DESCRIPTION
    The Format-Wide cmdlet formats objects as a wide table that displays only one property of each object. You can use the Property parameter to determine which property is displayed.

PARAMETERS
    -AutoSize [<SwitchParameter>]
        Adjusts the column size and number of columns based on the width of the data. By default, the column size and number are determined by the view. You cannot use the AutoSize and Column parameters in the same command.

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

    -Column <int>
        Specifies the number of columns in the display. You cannot use the AutoSize and Column parameters in the same command.

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

    -DisplayError [<SwitchParameter>]
        Displays errors at the command line.

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

    -Expand <string>
        Formats the collection object, as well as the objects in the collection. This parameter is designed to format objects that support the ICollection (System.Collections) interface. The default value is EnumOnly.

        Valid values are:
        — EnumOnly: Displays the properties of the objects in the collection.
        — CoreOnly: Displays the properties of the collection object.
        — Both: Displays the properties of the collection object and the properties of objects in the collection.

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

    -Force [<SwitchParameter>]
        Overrides restrictions that prevent the command from succeeding, just so the changes do not compromise security. For example, Force will override the read-only attribute or create directories to complete a file path, but it will not attempt to change file permissions.

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

    -GroupBy <Object>
        Formats the output in groups based on a shared property or value. Enter an expression or a property of the output.

        The value of the GroupBy parameter can be a new calculated property. To create a calculated, property, use a hash table. Valid keys are:

        — Name (or Label) <string>
        — Expression <string> or <script block>
        — FormatString <string>

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

    -InputObject <psobject>
        Specifies the objects to be formatted. Enter a Variable that contains the objects, or type a command or expression that gets the objects.

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

    -Property <Object>
        Specifies the object properties that appear in the display and the order in which they appear. Wildcards are permitted.

        If you omit this parameter, the properties that appear in the display depend on the object being displayed. The parameter name (“Property”) is optional. You cannot use the Property and View parameters in the same command.

        The value of the Property parameter can be a new calculated property. To create a calculated, property, use a hash table. Valid keys are:

        — Expression <string> or <script block>
        — FormatString <string>

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

    -ShowError [<SwitchParameter>]
        Sends errors through the pipeline.

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

    -View <string>
        Specifies the name of an alternate table format or “view.” You cannot use the Property and View parameters in the same command.

        Required?                    false
        Position?                    named
        Default value
        Accept pipeline input?     false
        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.Management.Automation.PSObject
        You can pipe any object to Format-Wide.

OUTPUTS
    Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format
        Format-Wide returns format objects that represent the table.

NOTES

        You can also refer to Format-Wide by its built-in Alias, “fw”. For more information, see about_aliases.

        The GroupBy parameter assumes that the objects are sorted. Before using Format-Custom to group the objects, use Sort-Object to sort them.

        The -View parameter lets you specify an alternate format for the table. You can use the views defined in the *.format.PS1XML files in the Windows PowerShell directory or you can create your own views in new PS1XML files and use the Update-FormatData cmdlet to include them in Windows PowerShell.

        The alternate view for the View parameter must use table format; if it does not, the command fails. If the alternate view is a list, use Format-List. If the alternate view is neither a list nor a table, use Format-Custom.

    ————————– EXAMPLE 1 ————————–

    C:\PS>Get-ChildItem | Format-Wide -Column 3

    Description
    ———–
    This command displays the names of files in the current directory in three columns across the screen. The Get-ChildItem cmdlet gets objects representing each file in the directory. The pipeline operator (|) passes the file objects through the pipeline to Format-Wide, which formats them for output. The Column parameter specifies the number of columns.

    ————————– EXAMPLE 2 ————————–

    C:\PS>Get-ChildItem HKCU:\software\microsoft | Format-Wide -Property pschildname -AutoSize

    Description
    ———–
    This command displays the names of Registry keys in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft key. The Get-ChildItem cmdlet gets objects representing the keys. The path is specified as “HKCU:”, one of the drives exposed by the Windows PowerShell Registry provider, followed by the key path. The pipeline operator (|) passes the Registry key objects through the pipeline to Format-Wide, which formats them for output. The Property parameter specifies the name of the property, and the AutoSize parameter adjusts the columns for readability.

RELATED LINKS
    Online version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113304