An array stores multiple values, similar to a 2-column table.

Example

As an example, 5 values could be entered in an array, these can be recalled using ID.

Here is a simple example of an array and its stored values:

When calling ID 1, the value: "value2" would be output when using the table

Array

Creating an array works with the following command:

$array = @("value1", "value2", "value3", "value4", "value5")

The values can then be called with the ID 0- ... can be called: $array[0], $array[1], . ..

The output to Powershell is done using "Write-Host":

$array = @("value1", "value2", "value3", "value4", "value5") 
Write-Host $array[0]

value1

The length of the array, i.e. the number of stored values, can be read with $array.length

$array = @("value1", "valuet2", "value3", "value4", "value5") 
$array.length

5

The stored values of an array can be processed, for example, using loop.

The following loops (except foreach) have this in common:

• A variable as a counter($i). This variable is used to count when to exit the loop.
• The counter is assigned a start value ($i=0).
• The start value is incremented by 1 with each run of the loop($i++)
• until the final value is reached. The end value is the length of the array($array.length)
• For checking the final value there is a condition: as long as $i is less than the number of values($i -lt $array.length) see also: PowerShell Syntax: compare and nest

For loop (for loop)

So if we take the above example, we can use For loop to display all values in the array:

$array = @("value1", "value2", "value3", "value4", "value5") 
for ($i=0; $i -lt $array.length; $i++){ 
Write-Host $array[$i]
}

value1
value2
value3
value4
value5

The command in detail:

for ($i=0; $i -lt $array.length; $i++)

$i=0... Start value: The variable $i starts with the value 0

$i -lt $array.length... Condition: the For loop is executed as long as this condition is met: as long as the variable $i is smaller than $array.length, so as long as $i is smaller than 5.

$i++... Action on one pass of the loop: $i++ means increase the value of the variable $i by 1, on each pass of the loop $i will be increased by 1: 0 ... 1 ... 2 .. 3 ....

while loop (while loop)

We stick to the same example with a while loop.

$array = @("value1", "value2", "value3", "value4", "value5") 
$i=0 
while ($i -lt $array.length){ 
  Write-Host $array[$i] 
  $i++ 
}

value1
value2
value3
value4
value5

In the example, the initial value $i is defined before the loop ($i=0).

The command in detail:

{ while ($i -lt $array.length){

Inside while (.. stands the condition for the loop to run, as long as it is met, the loop will not exit:

$i -lt $array.length... as long as $i is less than $array.length

In this example, the variable $i is incremented by 1 within the loop: $i++

Endless loop -Endless loop

while can be used for an endless loop as follows:

while($true) { #Script block }

with break the endless loop can be left again. The following example runs through the loop until break is executed, this happens when $i is no longer less than 10:

$i=0 
while($true) { 
$i++ 
write-host $i 
  if ($i -ge 10) {
   break
  } 
}

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

do while loop (do loop)

$array = @("value1", "value2", "value3", "value4", "value5") 
$i=0 
do{ 
write-host $array[$i] 
$i++ 
} while ($i -lt $array.length)

value1
value2
value3
value4
value5

foreach

Foreach is used to read all existing values. Foreach does not need a start and end value for execution. The read values are stored in a variable (in the example: $i).

$array = @("value1", "value2", "value3", "value4", "value5") 
foreach ($i in $array){ 
Write-Host $i 
}

value1
value2
value3
value4
value5

The command in detail:

foreach ($i in $array) . .. Calling all values of the array($array). The variable $i contains the currently read value on each pass.

foreach Pipe: | %

When used directly in the console, commands are usually simply passed via a pipe "|": A pipe can also be used to pass the array directly to the foreach loop. At this point, the alias % for foreach is often used:

@("value1", "value2", "value3", "value4", "value5") | % { 
write-host $_ 
}

value1
value2
value3
value4
value5

The variable "$_" can be accessed in the loop.