Update-List

Syntax

Update-List
      [-Add <Object[]>]
      [-Remove <Object[]>]
      [-InputObject <PSObject>]
      [[-Property] <String>]
      [<CommonParameters>]

Update-List
      -Replace <Object[]>
      [-InputObject <PSObject>]
      [[-Property] <String>]
      [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Update-List cmdlet adds, removes, or replaces items in a property value of an object and returns the updated object. This cmdlet is designed for properties that contain collections of objects.

The Add and Remove parameters add individual items to and remove them from the collection. The Replace parameter replaces the entire collection.

If you do not specify a property in the command, Update-List returns an object that describes the update instead of updating the object. You can submit the update object to cmdlets that change objects, such as Set cmdlets.

This cmdlet works only when the property that is being updated supports the IList interface that Update-List uses. Also, any Set cmdlets that accept an update must support the IList interface.

The core cmdlets that are installed with PowerShell do not support this interface. To determine whether a cmdlet supports Update-List, see the cmdlet Help topic.

This cmdlet was reintroduced in PowerShell 7.

Examples

Example 1: Add items to a property value

In this example we create a class that represents a deck of cards where the cards are stored as a List collection object. The NewDeck() method uses Update-Listto add a complete deck of card values to the cards collection.

class Cards {

    [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]$cards
    [string]$name

    Cards([string]$_name) {
        $this.name = $_name
        $this.cards = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new()
    }

    NewDeck() {
        $_suits = "`u{2663}","`u{2666}","`u{2665}","`u{2660}"
        $_values = 'A',2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,'J','Q','K'
        $_deck = foreach ($s in $_suits){ foreach ($v in $_values){ "$v$s"} }
        $this | Update-List -Property cards -Add $_deck | Out-Null
    }

    Show() {
        Write-Host
        Write-Host $this.name ": " $this.cards[0..12]
        if ($this.cards.count -gt 13) {
            Write-Host (' ' * ($this.name.length+3)) $this.cards[13..25]
        }
        if ($this.cards.count -gt 26) {
            Write-Host (' ' * ($this.name.length+3)) $this.cards[26..38]
        }
        if ($this.cards.count -gt 39) {
            Write-Host (' ' * ($this.name.length+3)) $this.cards[39..51]
        }
    }

    Shuffle() { $this.cards = Get-Random -InputObject $this.cards -Count 52 }

    Sort() { $this.cards.Sort() }
}

Example 2: Add and remove items of a collection property

Continuing with the code in Example 1, we will create instances of the Cards class to represent a deck of cards and the cards held by two players. We use the Update-List cmdlet to add cards to the players' hands and to remove cards from the deck.

$player1 = [Cards]::new('Player 1')
$player2 = [Cards]::new('Player 2')

$deck = [Cards]::new('Deck')
$deck.NewDeck()
$deck.Shuffle()
$deck.Show()

# Deal two hands
$player1 | Update-List -Property cards -Add $deck.cards[0,2,4,6,8] | Out-Null
$player2 | Update-List -Property cards -Add $deck.cards[1,3,5,7,9] | Out-Null
$deck | Update-List -Property cards -Remove $player1.cards | Out-Null
$deck | Update-List -Property cards -Remove $player2.cards | Out-Null

$player1.Show()
$player2.Show()
$deck.Show()

Deck :  4♦ 7♥ J♦ 5♣ A♣ 8♦ J♣ Q♥ 6♦ 3♦ 9♦ 6♣ 2♣
        K♥ 4♠ 10♥ 8♠ 10♦ 9♠ 6♠ K♦ 7♣ 3♣ Q♣ A♥ Q♠
        3♥ 5♥ 2♦ 5♠ J♥ J♠ 10♣ 4♥ Q♦ 10♠ 4♣ 2♠ 2♥
        6♥ 7♦ A♠ 5♦ 8♣ 9♥ K♠ 7♠ 3♠ 9♣ A♦ K♣ 8♥

Player 1 :  4♦ J♦ A♣ J♣ 6♦

Player 2 :  7♥ 5♣ 8♦ Q♥ 3♦

Deck :  9♦ 6♣ 2♣ K♥ 4♠ 10♥ 8♠ 10♦ 9♠ 6♠ K♦ 7♣ 3♣
        Q♣ A♥ Q♠ 3♥ 5♥ 2♦ 5♠ J♥ J♠ 10♣ 4♥ Q♦ 10♠
        4♣ 2♠ 2♥ 6♥ 7♦ A♠ 5♦ 8♣ 9♥ K♠ 7♠ 3♠ 9♣
        A♦ K♣ 8♥

The output shows the state of the deck before the cards were dealt to the players. You can see that each player received five cards from the deck. The final output shows the state of the deck after dealing the cards to the players. Update-List was used to select the cards from the deck and add them to the players' collection. Then the players' cards were removed from the deck using Update-List.

Example 3: Add and remove items in a single command

Update-List allows you to use the Add and Remove parameters in a single command. In this example, Player 1 wants to discard the 4♦ and 6♦ and get two new cards.

# Player 1 wants two new cards - remove 2 cards & add 2 cards
$player1 | Update-List -Property cards -Remove $player1.cards[0,4] -Add $deck.cards[0..1] | Out-Null
$player1.Show()

# remove dealt cards from deck
$deck | Update-List -Property cards -Remove $deck.cards[0..1] | Out-Null
$deck.Show()

Player 1 :  J♦ A♣ J♣ 9♦ 6♣

Deck :  2♣ K♥ 4♠ 10♥ 8♠ 10♦ 9♠ 6♠ K♦ 7♣ 3♣ Q♣ A♥
        Q♠ 3♥ 5♥ 2♦ 5♠ J♥ J♠ 10♣ 4♥ Q♦ 10♠ 4♣ 2♠
        2♥ 6♥ 7♦ A♠ 5♦ 8♣ 9♥ K♠ 7♠ 3♠ 9♣ A♦ K♣
        8♥

Parameters

-Add

-InputObject

-Property

-Remove

-Replace

Inputs

PSObject

You can pipe the objects to be updated to Update-List.

Outputs

Objects or System.Management.Automation.PSListModifier

Update-List returns the updated object, or it returns an object that represents the update action.

Related Links

• Select-Object