Measure-Object

Syntax

Measure-Object
       [-InputObject <PSObject>]
       [[-Property] <String[]>]
       [-Sum]
       [-Average]
       [-Maximum]
       [-Minimum]
       [<CommonParameters>]

Measure-Object
       [-InputObject <PSObject>]
       [[-Property] <String[]>]
       [-Line]
       [-Word]
       [-Character]
       [-IgnoreWhiteSpace]
       [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Measure-Object cmdlet calculates the property values of certain types of object. Measure-Object performs three types of measurements, depending on the parameters in the command.

The Measure-Object cmdlet performs calculations on the property values of objects. It can count objects and calculate the minimum, maximum, sum, and average of the numeric values. For text objects, it can count and calculate the number of lines, words, and characters.

Examples

Example 1: Count the files and folders in a directory

PS C:\> Get-ChildItem | Measure-Object

This command counts the files and folders in the current directory.

Example 2: Measure the files in a directory

PS C:\> Get-ChildItem | Measure-Object -Property length -Minimum -Maximum -Average

This command displays the minimum, maximum, and sum of the sizes of all files in the current directory, and the average size of a file in the directory.

Example 3: Measure text in a text file

PS C:\> Get-Content C:\test.txt | Measure-Object -Character -Line -Word

This command displays the number of characters, words, and lines in the Text.txt file.

Example 4: Measure computer processes

PS C:\> Get-Process | Measure-Object -Property workingset -Minimum -Maximum -Average

This command displays the minimum, maximum, and average sizes of the working sets of the processes on the computer.

Example 5: Measure the contents of a CSV file

PS C:\> Import-Csv d:\test\serviceyrs.csv | Measure-Object -Property years -Minimum -Maximum -Average

This command calculates the average years of service of the employees of a company.

The ServiceYrs.csv file is a CSV file that contains the employee number and years of service of each employee. The first row in the table is a header row of EmpNo, Years.

When you use Import-Csv to import the file, the result is a PSCustomObject with note properties of EmpNo and Years. You can use Measure-Object to calculate the values of these properties, just like any other property of an object.

Example 6: Measure Boolean values

PS C:\> Get-ChildItem | Measure-Object -Property psiscontainer -Max -Sum -Min -Average

Count    : 126

Average  : 0.0634920634920635

Sum      : 8

Maximum  : 1

Minimum  : 0

Property : PSIsContainer

This example demonstrates how the Measure-Object can measure Boolean values. In this case, it uses the PSIsContainer Boolean property to measure the incidence of folders (vs. files) in the current directory.

Optional Parameters

Inputs

System.Management.Automation.PSObject

You can pipe objects to Measure-Object .

Outputs

Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GenericMeasureInfo, Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.TextMeasureInfo, Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GenericObjectMeasureInfo

If you use the Word parameter, Measure-Object returns a TextMeasureInfo object. Otherwise, it returns a GenericMeasureInfo object.

Related Links

• Compare-Object
• Group-Object
• New-Object
• Select-Object
• Sort-Object
• Tee-Object