Counting Objects in PowerShell

1. Use the Count Method in PowerShell to Count Objects
2. Count in PowerShell Using the Measure-Object Command

There are several reasons wherein we may want to count objects in PowerShell. Whatever we need to count in PowerShell, you can use either the Count operator or the Measure-Object cmdlet.

This article will discuss different examples of how to count with both methods.

Use the Count Method in PowerShell to Count Objects

Syntax:

(PSObject).Count

We can access the PowerShell Count operator by wrapping the object in parentheses (()). Then, add a period (.), followed by the count.

For example, we wanted to know how many files were in a folder. The initial step to counting files in a folder is to use the Get-ChildItem cmdlet to return the files.

Example Command:

$filelist = Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Temp\Scripts" | Where-Object { !($_.PSIsContainer) }

In the command above, we will save the Get-ChildItem cmdlet’s in a variable called $filelists. In the second part of the command, we can pipe the final output of the Get-ChildItem cmdlet to the Where-Object command.

The Where-Object cmdlet has ! in front of $_.PSIsContainer – this tells Where-Object to return all objects except folders. Finally, run the command below to count the number of files in a folder.

Example Command:

$filelist.Count

Output:

37

Remember that the Count operator will always be a sub-property of any PowerShell object.

Count in PowerShell Using the Measure-Object Command

Run the following command to see the full syntax of the Measure-Object command.

Command:

Get-Help Measure-Object

We should pipe the result to the Measure-Object cmdlet and specify the -Character parameter to count in Windows PowerShell.

Example Command:

"654321" | Measure-Object -Character

Output:

Lines Words Characters Property
----- ----- ---------- --------
                     6

Another way to run the command is to specify the string 654321 with the InputObject variable instead of piping it.

Example Command:

Measure-Object -InputObject "654321" -Character

Both characters will produce an output of six.

Output:

Lines Words Characters Property
----- ----- ---------- --------
                     6