Format-Table

Syntax

Format-Table
      [[-Property] <Object[]>]
      [-AutoSize]
      [-HideTableHeaders]
      [-Wrap]
      [-GroupBy <Object>][-View <string>]
      [-ShowError]
      [-DisplayError]
      [-Force]
      [-Expand <string>]
      [-InputObject <psobject>][<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Format-Table cmdlet formats the output of a command as a table with the selected properties of the object in each column. The object type determines the default layout and properties that are displayed in each column, but you can use the Property parameter to select the properties that you want to see.

You can also use a hash table to add calculated properties to an object before displaying it and to specify the column headings in the table. To add a calculated property, use the Property or GroupBy parameter.

Examples

Example 1: Format PowerShell host

This command displays information about the host program for PowerShell in a table. By default, they are formatted in a list.

Get-Host | Format-Table -AutoSize

The Get-Host cmdlet gets objects representing the host. The pipeline operator (|) passes the object to the Format-Table cmdlet. The Format-Table cmdlet formats the objects in a table. The AutoSize parameter adjusts the column widths to minimize truncation.

Example 2: Format processes by BasePriority

This command displays the processes on the computer in groups with the same base priority.

Get-Process | Sort-Object -Property basepriority | Format-Table -GroupBy basepriority -Wrap

The Get-Process cmdlet gets objects representing each process on the computer. The pipeline operator (|) passes the object to the Sort-Object cmdlet, which sorts the objects in order of their base priority.

Another pipeline operator passes the results to the Format-Table cmdlet. The GroupBy parameter arranges the data about the processes into groups based on the value of their BasePriority property. The Wrap parameter ensures that data is not truncated.

Example 3: Format processes by start date

Get-Process | Sort-Object starttime | Format-Table -View starttime

This command displays information about the processes on the computer in group based on the start date of the process. It uses the Get-Process cmdlet to get objects representing the processes on the computer. The pipeline operator (|) sends the output of Get-Process to the Sort-Object cmdlet, which sorts it based on the StartTime property. Another pipeline operator sends the sorted results to Format-Table.

The View parameter is used to select the StartTime view that is defined in the DotNetTypes.format.ps1xml file for System.Diagnostics.Process objects, such as those returned by Get-Process. This view converts the StartTime of the process to a short date and then groups the processes by start date.

The DotNetTypes.format.ps1xml file also contains a Priority view for processes. You can create your own format.ps1xml files with customized views.

Example 4: Format services

Get-Service | Format-Table -Property Name, DependentServices

This command displays all of the services on the computer in a table with two columns, Name and DependentServices. The Get-Service cmdlet gets all of the services on the computer. The pipeline operator (|) sends the results to the Format-Table cmdlet, which formats the output in a table. The Property parameter specifies the properties that appear in the table as columns. The name of the Property parameter is optional, so you can omit it, for example Format-Table Name, DependentServices.

Name and DependentServices are just two of the properties of service objects. To view all of the properties, type Get-Service | Get-Member -MemberType Properties.

Example 5: Format a process and calculate its running time

This command shows how to use a calculated property in a table.

Get-Process Notepad | Format-Table ProcessName,
   @{Label="TotalRunningTime"; Expression={(Get-Date) - $_.StartTime}}

The command displays a table with the process name and total running time of all Notepad processes on the local computer. The total running time is calculated by subtracting the start time of each process from the current time.

The command uses the Get-Process cmdlet to get all processes named Notepad on the local computer. The pipeline operator (|) sends the results to Format-Table, which displays a table with two columns: ProcessName, a standard property of processes, and TotalRunningTime, a calculated property.

The TotalRunningTime property is specified by a hash table with two keys, Label and Expression. The name of the property is assigned to the Label key. The calculation is assigned to the Expression key. The expression gets the StartTime property of each process object and subtracts it from the result of a Get-Date command, which gets the current date and time.

Example 6: Format Notepad processes

These commands are similar to the previous command, except that these commands use the Get-WmiObject cmdlet.

$Processes = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName "Server01" -Class win32_process -Filter "name='notepad.exe'"
$Processes | Format-Table ProcessName, @{ Label = "Total Running Time"; Expression={(Get-Date) - $_.ConvertToDateTime($_.CreationDate)}}

The first command uses the Get-WmiObject cmdlet to get instances of the WMI Win32_Process class that describes all of the processes on the Server01 computer that are named Notepad.exe. The command stores the process information in the $Processes variable.

The second command uses a pipeline operator (|) to send the process information in the $Processes variable to the Format-Table cmdlet, which displays the ProcessName and a new calculated property.

The command assigns the name of the new calculated property, "Total Running Time", to the Label key. The script block that is assigned to the Expression key calculates how long the process has been running by subtracting the creation date of the process from the current date. The Get-Date cmdlet gets the current date. The ConvertToDateTime method converts the CreationDate property of the Win32_Process object from a WMI CIM_DATETIME object to a .NET DateTime object that can be compared with the output of Get-Date. Then, the converted creation date is subtracted from the current date. The result is the value of Total Running Time.

Example 7: Troubleshooting format errors

The following examples show of the results of adding the DisplayError or ShowError parameters with an expression.

PC /> Get-Date | Format-Table DayOfWeek,{ $_ / $null } -DisplayError

DayOfWeek  $_ / $null
--------- ------------
Wednesday #ERR

PC /> Get-Date | Format-Table DayOfWeek,{ $_ / $null } -ShowError

DayOfWeek  $_ / $null
--------- ------------
Wednesday

Failed to evaluate expression " $_ / $null ".
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (10/30/2013 2:28:07 PM:PSObject) \[\], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : mshExpressionError

Parameters

-AutoSize

-DisplayError

-Expand

-Force

-GroupBy

-HideTableHeaders

-InputObject

-Property

-ShowError

-View

-Wrap

Inputs

PSObject

You can pipe any object to Format-Table.

Outputs

Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format

Format-Table returns format objects that represent the table.

Notes

The GroupBy parameter assumes that the objects are sorted. Use the Sort-Object cmdlet before using Format-Table to group the objects.

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 PowerShell directory or you can create your own views in new PS1XML files and then use the Update-FormatData cmdlet to include them in PowerShell. The alternate views for the View parameter must use the table format, otherwise, the command fails. If the alternate view is a list, use the Format-List cmdlet. If the alternate view is neither a list or a table, use the Format-Custom cmdlet.

Related Links

• Format-Custom
• Format-Hex
• Format-List
• Format-Wide