How to Get String Length of a Variable in PowerShell

1. Use GetType() to Check Data Type of a Variable in PowerShell
2. Use $string.Length to Get the String Length of a Variable in PowerShell
3. Use Measure-Object to Get the String Length of a Variable in PowerShell

The string is one of the most common data types used in PowerShell; it contains the sequence of characters or texts. You can define a string by using single or double-quotes.

The PowerShell string has the System.String object type. This tutorial will teach you to get the string length of variables in PowerShell.

Use GetType() to Check Data Type of a Variable in PowerShell

We have created a string variable $text as shown below.

$text = "hello, how are you?"

You can check the data type of a variable using GetType() method.

$text.GetType()

Output:

IsPublic IsSerial Name                                     BaseType
-------- -------- ----                                     --------
True     True     String                                   System.Object

Use $string.Length to Get the String Length of a Variable in PowerShell

The $string.Length is the most straightforward method to check a string length of a variable in PowerShell.

$text.Length

Output:

19

You can test if a variable is more than eight characters using the following command.

if ($text.Length -gt 8) {
    Write-Output "True"
}

It returns True if the variable string length is more than eight characters and prints nothing if it is not.

Output:

True

Instead of the if condition, you can also use the ternary operator ?:. The ternary operator is available only from PowerShell 7.0.

($text.Length -gt 8) ? "True" : "False"

Output:

True

-gt is the comparison operator in the PowerShell and indicates the greater than. The comparison operators are used to compare the values and test conditions in the PowerShell.

Other useful comparison operators are as follows:

-eq: equals
-ne: not equals
-ge: greater than or equal
-lt: less than
-le: less than or equal

Use Measure-Object to Get the String Length of a Variable in PowerShell

The Measure-Object cmdlet calculates the numeric properties of certain types of objects in the PowerShell. It counts the number of string objects’ words, lines, and characters.

You can get the string length of a variable using the command below.

$text | Measure-Object -Character

The total number of characters is the total length of a string.

Output:

Lines Words Characters Property
----- ----- ---------- --------
                    19

You can check the number of lines and words using the parameter -Line and -Word, respectively.