Better way to print object than Write-Host

Question

I use Write-Host analyze objects, but some times it is hard to understand what the object actually is.

Consider:

Write-Host $null
Write-Host @()
Write-Host @($null, $null)

Prints:

# Actually it prints nothing

I would like some thing like this:

Null
@()
@(Null, Null)

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

You can write a function that does the pretty-printing for you. Something like the following might work for your needs:

function pp($a) {
    if ($a -eq $null) {
        return "Null"
    } elseif ($a -is [object[]]) {
        $b = @()
        foreach ($x in $a) {
            $b += (pp $x)
        }
        $s = "@(" + [string]::Join(",", $b) + ")"
        return $s
    } else {
        return $a
    }
}

This has, however still problems with an empty array on the shell (works fine from a .ps1 file, though). Also Hashtables aren't supported, but nested arrays are. Probably still needs some plumbing but might give a general direction.

The @($null, $null) array seems to be an ugly beast, resisting even comparing it to $null. Weird.