String comparison (-like, -match) in PowerShell - Mini Project: Build & Apply

String Comparison with -like and -match in PowerShell

📖 Scenario: You are working with a list of file names in a folder. You want to find files that match certain patterns using PowerShell string comparison operators.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to use the -like and -match operators in PowerShell to filter strings based on patterns.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a list of file names in a variable called files

Create a pattern variable called pattern for filtering

Use -like operator to filter files matching the pattern

Use -match operator to filter files matching a regex pattern

Print the filtered results

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Filtering file names or text data based on patterns is common in automation scripts for organizing files or processing logs.

💼 Career

Knowing how to use string comparison operators like -like and -match in PowerShell helps automate tasks in system administration, DevOps, and scripting roles.

1

Create a list of file names

Create a variable called files and assign it an array with these exact file names: report1.txt, data.csv, summary.docx, report2.txt, image.png

PowerShell

# Create the array variable files with the given file names
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use @( ... ) to create an array in PowerShell.

2

Create a pattern variable for filtering

Create a variable called pattern and assign it the string 'report*.txt' to match files starting with 'report' and ending with '.txt' using wildcard.

PowerShell

$files = @('report1.txt', 'data.csv', 'summary.docx', 'report2.txt', 'image.png')
# Create the pattern variable with the value 'report*.txt'
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use single quotes for the string pattern with a wildcard *.

3

Filter files using -like operator

Use the -like operator to filter the files array for names matching the pattern. Store the result in a variable called likeMatches.

PowerShell

$files = @('report1.txt', 'data.csv', 'summary.docx', 'report2.txt', 'image.png')
$pattern = 'report*.txt'
# Filter files using -like and store in likeMatches
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use Where-Object { $_ -like $pattern } to filter the array.

4

Print the filtered results

Print the contents of the likeMatches variable using Write-Output.

PowerShell

$files = @('report1.txt', 'data.csv', 'summary.docx', 'report2.txt', 'image.png')
$pattern = 'report*.txt'
$likeMatches = $files | Where-Object { $_ -like $pattern }
# Print the likeMatches variable
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use Write-Output $likeMatches to display the filtered file names.