Computername and string search

Question

Having some string trouble, I can get the computer name using $env:computerName and it returns something like ABC1211. I am guessing that the ABC1211 is an object and I want to do a search. I want to search this for the characters ABC and then I need to do some other things with certs. I am having problem searching for the ABC.

I tried:

[string[]]$test = $env:computerName

to turn it into a string and then do a search within $test by:

if ($test.contains(("DEF")) {
    Write-Host "Yeah" 
}
else {
    Write-Host "NO"
}

but its not working. Am I missing something? I am guessing this is really simple, but I'm just not getting it.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-13 17:44:28Z

$env:computerName is already a string. There is no need to cast it to [string[]]. Just call the .contains method on the variable directly:

if ($env:computerName.contains("ABC")) {
    Write-Host "Yeah" 
}
else {
    Write-Host "NO"
}

Incidentally, casting a variable to [string[]] makes an array of strings, not a single string:

PS > [string[]]$test = $env:computerName     
PS > $test.GetType()

IsPublic IsSerial Name                                     BaseType                 
-------- -------- ----                                     --------                 
True     True     String[]                                 System.Array             


PS >

So, $test was actually of the form ($env:computerName,) and you were using Array.Contains instead of String.Contains.

To cast to a string, you would use just [string]:

[string]$test = $env:computerName

But as I said above, this is unnecessary since $env:computerName is already a string.

sk1919 · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-13 17:49:49Z

0

Ok I figured it out...was a lot more simple than I thought. Here's the answer: -match

I just had to use that instead of .contains or -like also I don't need to change the object into a string.

answered Feb 13, 2015 at 17:49

sk1919

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1 Comment

user2555451 Over a year ago

-match uses Regex to search for a pattern. You are only trying to search for static text however, which means it is not necessary (and somewhat inefficient). .contains should work fine if you use it as I demonstrated in my answer.

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