Code to grab file data into PSOObject and sort by LastWriteTime - excel

Question

I am looking to recursively grab a list of recently modified files under two network drives, sort them in descending date order, and make some edits to the CSV file to tidy the list for Excel
I have cobbled the code below from a number of sources (I am a powershell beginner) and it is now doing what I need (i.e. producing a list).
I need help in going a step further, I cannot sort the resultant CSV file by file last write time date, is this because my array is expecting text rather than a numeric field?
I also am returning the domain name as well as the file owner with ((Get-ACL $_.FullName).Owner). I tried using Replace to cut down the string, but had no luck with this approach.
$arr = #()
$days_to_check=$(Get-Date).AddDays(-28)
$items = #(Get-ChildItem '\\ND\dir 1\*.*' -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | where { $_.LastWriteTime -gt $days_to_check})
$items += #(Get-ChildItem '\\ND\dir 1\*.*' -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
where { $_.LastWriteTime -gt $days_to_check})
$items | Foreach {
$obj = New-Object PSObject -prop $hash
$obj | Add-Member NoteProperty FullName $_.FullName
$obj | Add-Member NoteProperty Directory $_.Directory
$obj | Add-Member NoteProperty Name $_.Name
$obj | Add-Member NoteProperty LastTime $_.LastWriteTime
$obj | Add-Member NoteProperty Owner ((Get-ACL $_.FullName).Owner)
$arr += $obj
}
$arr | Format-List
$arr | Sort-Object -Property LastTime -Descending
$arr | Export-CSV -notypeinformation C:\temp\filenamesFO.csv
CSV file sorted by date field

Answer 1

You did sort your array in the output but that's all you did.
If you want to actually export it that way, you have to assign the sort to $arr
Replace
$arr | Sort-Object -Property LastTime -Descending
with
$arr = $arr | Sort-Object -Property LastTime -Descending
You can remove the Owner domain using the following Replace -replace '(.*\\)(.*)','$2'
Here's a complete example implementing the changes mentionned above.
$arr = new-object -TypeName 'System.Collections.Generic.List[PSObject]'
$days_to_check=$(Get-Date).AddDays(-28)
$items = #(Get-ChildItem '\\ND\dir 1\*.*' -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | where { $_.LastWriteTime -gt $days_to_check})
$items += #(Get-ChildItem '\\ND\dir 1\*.*' -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
where { $_.LastWriteTime -gt $days_to_check})
Foreach ($item in $items) {
$obj = [PSCustomObject]#{
FullName = $item.FullName
Directory = $item.Directory
Name = $item.Name
LastTime = $item.LastWriteTime
Owner = (Get-ACL $item.FullName).Owner -replace '(.*\\)(.*)','$2'
}
$arr.add($obj)
}
$arr = $arr | Sort-Object -Property LastTime -Descending
#$arr | Format-List
$arr | Export-CSV -notypeinformation C:\temp\filenamesFO.csv
I made some additional changes:
Instead of using an array, I used a List of PSObject. If you have a lot of files, the processing time will be improved in comparison with an array.
I used the PSCustomObject declaration just to show an alternative to all those Add-member. I find it cleaner but it is up to you in the end.