Powershell ->read specific section of a file

Question

Hello. I have ini file with different sections like:

[section1]
bla bla 1
bla bla 2

[Section2]
blala 3
bla bla 4

etc.
How can I read in a variable specific section of the file.
p.s. The brackets can be changed , even the structure of the file.
Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

please take a look of this. maybe it's helpfull

https://www.dev4sys.com/2016/05/how-to-parse-ini-file-in-powershell.html

Answer 2

and this
https://www.msxfaq.de/code/powershell/psinifile.htm#:~:text=Es%20gibt%20leider%20keine%20native%20Unterst%C3%BCtzung%20von%20INI-Dateien,z.B.%20das%20Projekt%20KlimaLogg%20Pro%20wieder%20gezeigt%20hat.

Answer 3

Thank you both. If I make the file look like CSV it would be easy.

Answer 4

You might be able to use this:

function ConvertFrom-Ini{
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param (
        [Parameter()]
        [string[]]
        $str
    )
    $ns      = ''
    $sections = [ordered]@{}
    $counter = 0

    [array]$lines = $str -split "(?:\015{1,2}\012|\015|\012)"
    ForEach ($line in $lines){
            $counter++;

            # Skip comments and empty lines.
            if ($line -match "^\s*(?:\#|\;|$)"){
                continue
            }

            # Remove inline comments.
            $line = $line -replace "\s\;\s.+$",""

            # Handle section headers.
            if ( $line -match "^\s*\[.*\]\s*$" ){              # is this a section header?
                # Create the sub-hash if it doesn't exist.
                # Without this sections without keys will not
                # appear at all in the completed struct.
                if ( $line -match "^\s*\[\s*(.+?)\s*\]\s*$" ){  # does the section have a name?
                    $ns = $matches[1]
                    $sections[$ns] = @()
                    continue
                }
                $sections[""] = @()
                continue
            }

            # Handle properties.
            if ( $line -match "^\s*([^=]+?)\s*=\s*(.*?)\s*$" ){
                $sections[$ns] += @{$matches[1]=$matches[2]}
                continue
            }
            throw "Syntax error at line $counter : '$_'"
    }

    $sections
}

Here are a few examples of using it:

# test
$ini = @"
rootproperty=blah

[section]
reg_exp_1=High Priority
reg_exp_2=Low Priority
three= four
Foo =Bar
empty=
"@

$x=ConvertFrom-Ini $ini
# show all section and keys/values
$x.Keys |
    ForEach-Object{
        "[$_]"                              # section name
        $sec = $_
        $x[$_].keys |                       # all keys in section
            ForEach-Object{
                "`t$_ = $($x[$sec].$_)"     # key = value
            }
    }

# if you know the section and value name
$x["section"].Foo

# Export section/keys/values to CSV
$x.Keys |
    ForEach-Object{
        $sec = $_
        $x[$_].keys |                       # all keys in section
            ForEach-Object{
                [PSCustomObject]@{
                    Section = $sec
                    Name = $_
                    Value = $x[$sec].$_
                }
            }
    } | Export-Csv c:\junk\ini.csv -notypeinfo