Join columns from different txt files - powershell

Question

I need to extract columns from one file and join them in another file. I used this code to select the columns that I need:

$original_path = 'C:\Users\leticia.araujo\Downloads\Arquivo Buffer\Arquivo teste'
$files = Get-ChildItem $original_path
ForEach($file in $files) {
    $pathFile = $original_path + '\' + $file.Name
    $SegundaColuna = Get-Content -Path $pathFile | Foreach {"$(($_ -split ',')[3..3])"}
    $TerceiraColuna = Get-Content -Path $pathFile | Foreach {"$(($_ -split ':')[3..3])"}
    $QuartaColuna = Get-Content -Path $pathFile | Foreach {"$(($_ -split ',')[10..10])"}

}

When I try to put these in a txt using

'Add-Content $pathFile $SegundaColuna,$TerceiraColuna,$QuartaColuna'

I got, but in the file the columns are not next to each other. they are under each other. Example: I need they are like this:

1 a
2 b
3 c

But they are like this:

1
2
3
a
b
c

Does quoting it give you the expected results: `Add-Content -Path $pathFile -Value "$SegundaColuna $TerceiraColuna $QuartaColuna"`? Perhaps you can incorporate `Export-Csv` in here instead. — Abraham Zinala, Apr 04 '22 at 19:13
Does this answer your question? [Is there a PowerShell equivalent of \`paste\` (i.e., horizontal file concatenation)?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/68070226/is-there-a-powershell-equivalent-of-paste-i-e-horizontal-file-concatenation) — iRon, Apr 04 '22 at 19:46
@iRon, it looks like the values to merge all come from the _same_ file, so I don't think the proposed duplicate applies - it looks like line-by-line reading may be all that is needed. — mklement0, Apr 04 '22 at 20:14

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 04 '22 at 20:12

Focusing on a single file inside your foreach loop:

Since the values to join come from the same lines of a given file, read that file line by line:

Get-Content -Path $pathFile |  # Read the file line by line.
  ForEach-Object {             # Process each line.
    ($_ -split ',')[3],
    ($_ -split ':')[3],
    ($_ -split ',')[10] -join ' ' # Output the column values joined with a space.
  } |
    Set-Content out.txt

If you need to merge columns across all your input files and create a single output file, replace the foreach loop with a single pipeline:

Get-ChildItem $original_path | 
  Get-Content | 
    ForEach-Object {
      ($_ -split ',')[3],
      ($_ -split ':')[3],
      ($_ -split ',')[10] -join ' '
    } | 
      Set-Content out.txt

Join columns from different txt files - powershell

1 Answers1