Output not showing correctly in Powershell

Question

When inputting parameters into this function it's displaying the objects as one long string instead of on multiple lines. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here.

Answer 1

You passed two hostnames as array. Two options...
Edit the function with loop to process each computernames, e.g. Foreach, or use pipeline.

#Option one: using loop  
function Get-ComputerInfo  
{  
    param ($computername)  
    foreach ($cn in $computername) {  
        $bios = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $cn -Class Win32_Bios  
        $OperatingSystem = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $cn -Class Win32_OperatingSystem  
        $ComputerSystem = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $cn -Class Win32_ComputerSystem  
          
        $CustomObject = New-Object -TypeName psobject  
        $CustomObject | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name 'Computer Name' -Value $cn  
        $CustomObject | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name 'Serial Number' -Value $bios.SerialNumber  
        $CustomObject | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name 'Host Name' -Value $ComputerSystem.DNSHostName  
        $CustomObject | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name 'Domain' -Value $ComputerSystem.Domain  
        Write-Output $CustomObject  
    }  
}  
Get-ComputerInfo -computername 'Server1', $env:COMPUTERNAME | Format-Table -AutoSize -Wrap  


#Option two: using pipeline  
#the computername must pass from pipeline  
  
function Get-ComputerInfo  
{  
    param ([Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$true)]$computername)  
    $bios = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $computername -Class Win32_Bios  
    $OperatingSystem = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $computername -Class Win32_OperatingSystem  
    $ComputerSystem = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $computername -Class Win32_ComputerSystem  
    $CustomObject = New-Object -TypeName psobject  
  
    $CustomObject | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name 'Computer Name' -Value $computername  
    $CustomObject | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name 'Serial Number' -Value $bios.SerialNumber  
    $CustomObject | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name 'Host Name' -Value $ComputerSystem.DNSHostName  
    $CustomObject | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name 'Domain' -Value $ComputerSystem.Domain  
    Write-Output $CustomObject  
}  
  
#pass the computername from pipeline  
'Server1', 'localhost' | Get-ComputerInfo | Format-Table -AutoSize -Wrap  

Answer 2

Try the below snippet

function Get-ComputerInfo {  
    [CmdletBinding()]  
    Param  
    (  
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,  
            ValueFromPipeline = $true,  
            ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true,  
            Position = 0)]  
        $ComputerName  
    )  
  
    Begin {  
    }  
    Process {  
        try {  
            $BIOS = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Bios -ComputerName $ComputerName -ErrorAction Stop   
            $OperatingSystem = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_OperatingSystem -ComputerName $ComputerName -ErrorAction Stop  
            $ComputerSystem = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_ComputerSystem -ComputerName $ComputerName -ErrorAction Stop  
            [pscustomobject]@{  
                ComputerName = $ComputerName  
                SerialNumber = $BIOS.SerialNumber  
                Domain       = $ComputerSystem.Domain  
                OSVersion    = $OperatingSystem.Version  
            }  
        }  
        catch {  
            $_.Exception.Message   
        }  
              
    }  
    End {  
    }  
}  
$env:COMPUTERNAME , $env:COMPUTERNAME | Get-ComputerInfo   

1. You should use CIM Instance instead of WMI - Refer https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/cimcmdlets/get-ciminstance?view=powershell-7.3
2. Exception handling of your choice.
3. process block here avoids foreach loop.

Answer 3

The foreach loop is giving me multiple lines but with both parameter inputs still as one long string instead of Server1 on one line and Localhost on another line.

Answer 4

In addition to the answer given by @Aung Zaw Min Thwin you can also try this:

function Get-ComputerInfo {  
    param ($computername)  
    $computername |  
        ForEach-Object {  
            $OperatingSystem = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $_ -Class Win32_OperatingSystem     # Why is this here? The data are never used.  
            $ComputerSystem  = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $_ -Class Win32_ComputerSystem  
            [PSCustomObject]@{  
                'Computer Name' = $_  
                'Serial Number' = (Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $_ -Class Win32_Bios).SerialNumber  
                'Host Name'     = $ComputerSystem.DNSHostName  
                'Domain'        = $ComputerSystem.Domain  
            }  
        }  
}  
  
Get-ComputerInfo -computername 'Server1', $env:COMPUTERNAME | Format-Table -AutoSize -Wrap  

Using a hash to create a PSCustomObject is faster (and less error-prone) than using the older Add-Member cmdlet.

Answer 5

Thank you RichMatheisen-8856, chenv and of course AungZawMinThwin-9152 for the replies. I understand where my mistake was now and appreciate the alternate ways of going about this. You guys have helped my Powershell journey. Thanks very much!