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Windows PowerShell - Format-Table (ft)

Windows PowerShell Scripting - Format-Table (ft)

Format-Table, or ft for short, controls the formatting of the output of your Windows PowerShell commands.  Whenever presentation of information is important, pipe the script's output into Format-Table.  On this page I will show you examples of this straightforward, but important command.

Windows PowerShell Format-Table Topics

• Format-Table - Simple Examples
• Format-Table - Intermediate examples
• Format-Table - Advanced examples
• Format-Table Alias Ft
• Format-Wide
• Format-List
• Script (cmdlet) Technique
• Summary of Format-Table in Windows PowerShell

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Format-Table - Simple Examples

Scenario: we wish to investigate processes running on workstation or a Windows Server.

Pre-requisites:
PowerShell and .Net framework are installed on your computer.
You are at the prompt PS>  Or if you have PowerShell 2.0, launch the ISE.

Example 1a
Let us get started with an example using the default formatting:

The 'problem' is that the name of the process is on the right, and we have columns in the output which are of no interest.

Example 1b
Now let me introduce Format-Table so that we can control which properties to display in the output.  Let us suppose that we are only interested in 'Handles'.

Note 1:  Thanks to Format-Table we now have the name of the process in the first column.

Note 2: -auto prevents the output spreading to the full width and consequently, the -auto parameter makes the figures easier to read.  To see the effect try the above command without -auto.

Troubleshooting Format-Table

About the only thing that can wrong with Format-Table is forgetting the pipe (|) before the command.  The secret is to get the main command working then use (|) to pipe the output into Format-Table.  From there you list the names of the properties you wish to display.

Format-Table comes into its own when dealing with Get-WmiObject classes.  Because the output contains more than 5 properties the default layout is courtesy of Format-List; I find that I like to select my properties then call for Format-Table.

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Format-Table - Intermediate Examples

Example 2a:
Time to see which properties of Get-Process are available, then we can fine tune our Format-Table command.

Example 2b: Even here, I cannot resist using Format-Table to filter which column gets exported to the file.

Note 3: It's not really necessary to introduce a variable, $Proc. However, one advantage of this technique is that it saves problems with our script word-wrapping to the next line.

Example 3a: Let us choose some different columns in the output, for example, BasePriority and HandleCount:

Example 3b: Let us see what happens is we add -auto.

Format-Table - Advanced Examples

Sort-object (Can be abbreviated to 'Short')

Example 4:
Suppose you want some order in your output, no problem, call for Sort-object.

Note 4: -groupBy This parameter offers a different method of aggregating the data.

Example 5:

Note  Out-GridView: PowerShell v 2.0 introduces a new cmdlet to control data display.  See more on how to pipe the results into out-GridView.

Format-Table Alias Ft

With Microsoft, there are always at least three ways of doing everything, what seems like redundancy when you are an expert, seems like perspective when you are a beginner.  One obvious example is that you can abbreviate format-Table to ft.  As you increase your range of PowerShell commands, keep an eye out for another PowerShell Alias, for example gci (Get-Childitem).

Here are alternative methods of achieving the above objectives, each example is designed to develop your binocular vision, hence see the target more clearly.  For example, if you experiment with format-wide and format-list you will extend your range of formatting options.

PowerShell Ft Alias Examples

Example 1c [Use in conjunction with Example 1a and 1b above]

Learning points.  You can substitute ft for Format-Table.  Also you can research other properties, for example PagedMemorySize.

Example 2c

Learning points.  In addition to property, you can research an object's method.  For instance, in other scripts you may wish to employ the .kill() method.

Example 5b:

Learning points.  It's not essential to use variables.  This is a simpler example focusing on the -groupby switch.

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PowerShell Format-Table Parameters

We have already seen the -auto parameter, to research more switches try

One of my favourite Format-Table parameters is -groupBy

Format-Wide

How to Discover More Formatting Cmdlets

In addition to Format-Table, you can display data in not one column but two or three columns.  This is the format-wide or (fw) option, which is useful where you have a long list with only one field, for example:

Format-List

The other way PowerShell can format output is with a list.  This is useful when you want to display multiple properties for one object.  Here is an example:

Note 5:  What makes using the format-list worthwhile is the * (star) wildcard.

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Script (cmdlet) Technique

As regards our working technique for Format-Table, we have reached a crossroads.  My preferred working method is to create scripts and then run them from the PowerShell command line.  The other alternative is to keep typing and re-typing the commands in the shell.  My technique comes into its own when the commands are complex; as a bonus my scripts document what I do so it's easy to refer and refine previous experiments.

If you too like this script (cmdlet) method, then first make sure PowerShell will allow script to run, you only have to do this once, type :
set-executionpolicy RemoteSigned

Assuming that I have saved example 2 in a file called proc.ps1, what I do is go to the PS prompt and type .\proc.  You either have to save the script into the working directory, or else use cd to change to the directory where the script was saved.

Summary of Format-Table in Windows PowerShell

Presentation really does transform the output of your PowerShell scripts.  Also, when you get too much information the answer is to filter and reduce the number of columns in the display.  On other occasions, you need to display extra properties, which are not shown by the default command.  In each case, Format-Table gives you control over the presentation of your output.

While Format-Table (or ft for short), is a ubiquitous command, it does have numerous switches. With judicious application of its many switches, you can produce creative and effective outputs.

See more Microsoft PowerShell output tutorials:

• PShell Home  • Out-File  • Out-GridView  • ConvertTo-Html  • -f format  • Files  • Pipe to file

• Export-CSV  • Import-CSV  • Format-Table  • Format-List  • Read-Host  • Write-Host

Please write in if you have a better example script. Also please report any factual mistakes, grammatical errors or broken links, I will be happy to correct the fault.

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