{"id":74251,"date":"2015-11-04T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.technet.microsoft.com\/heyscriptingguy\/2015\/11\/04\/reverse-strings-with-powershell\/"},"modified":"2019-02-18T09:34:40","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T16:34:40","slug":"reverse-strings-with-powershell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/reverse-strings-with-powershell\/","title":{"rendered":"Reverse Strings with PowerShell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/b>: Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy, talks about using Windows PowerShell to reverse strings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Hey, Hey, Scripting Guy! I am working with Windows PowerShell, and I need to reverse a string. I am surprised there is no reverse method in the string class. It seems like a major oversight. Anyway, can you show me how to do this easily?<\/p>\n

—SS<\/p>\n

\"Hey, Hello SS,<\/p>\n

Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. This week is an awesome week. The MVP Summit is going on, and the Scripting Wife is in Bellevue\/Redmond\/Seattle hanging with thousands of MVPs from around the world. She keeps sending me text messages, like, “Dude, I just got to see Jaap,” and “I was talking to Mark,” and “Guess what? Karl is coming to the get-together tonight.” One was, “You are not going to believe it. Vlad invited me to sit in on the Jeremy unplugged session! OMG!!!”<\/p>\n

I mean, it is nearly a real-time stream of messages. Then she goes quiet when she is in an NDA session.<\/p>\n

Nah, I am not jealous. Nope. Not one bit…<\/p>\n

So, SS. I was sitting on the patio overlooking the pool, and I was sipping a nice cup of English Breakfast tea. I have rather poor WiFi, but I turned on Internet Connection Sharing on my Windows 8.1 phone, and boom! My Windows 10 laptop joined the connection and all is good. Actually, the performance is really quite good. I might watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer this evening on Netflix. Yeah, no reason not to. This is working out really well. I digress…<\/span><\/p>\n

So you have a string. I’ll store the string in a variable named $a<\/b>. I then display the contents of the $a<\/b> variable. This is shown here:<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> $a = “abcde”<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> $a<\/p>\n

Abcde<\/p>\n

I know that I have a System.String, and I can look this up by using the Get-Member<\/b> cmdlet. I pipe the $a<\/b> variable to Get-Member<\/b> (gm<\/b> is an alias) and look through the methods and properties associated with the string object:<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> $a | gm<\/p>\n

   TypeName: System.String<\/p>\n

Name             MemberType            Definition<\/p>\n

—-                 ———-                  ———-<\/p>\n

Clone            Method                System.Object Clone(), System.Object ICloneable.Clone()<\/p>\n

CompareTo        Method                int CompareTo(System.Object value), int CompareTo(string strB), int IComparab…<\/p>\n

Contains         Method                bool Contains(string value)<\/p>\n

CopyTo           Method                void CopyTo(int sourceIndex, char[] destination, int destinationIndex, int co…<\/p>\n

EndsWith         Method                bool EndsWith(string value), bool EndsWith(string value, System.StringCompari…<\/p>\n

Equals           Method                bool Equals(System.Object obj), bool Equals(string value), bool Equals(string…<\/p>\n

GetEnumerator    Method                System.CharEnumerator GetEnumerator(), System.Collections.IEnumerator IEnumer…<\/p>\n

GetHashCode      Method                int GetHashCode()<\/p>\n

GetType          Method                type GetType()<\/p>\n

GetTypeCode      Method                System.TypeCode GetTypeCode(), System.TypeCode IConvertible.GetTypeCode()<\/p>\n

IndexOf          Method                int IndexOf(char value), int IndexOf(char value, int startIndex), int IndexOf…<\/p>\n

IndexOfAny       Method                int IndexOfAny(char[] anyOf), int IndexOfAny(char[] anyOf, int startIndex), i…<\/p>\n

Insert           Method                string Insert(int startIndex, string value)<\/p>\n

IsNormalized     Method                bool IsNormalized(), bool IsNormalized(System.Text.NormalizationForm normaliz…<\/p>\n

LastIndexOf      Method                int LastIndexOf(char value), int LastIndexOf(char value, int startIndex), int…<\/p>\n

LastIndexOfAny   Method                int LastIndexOfAny(char[] anyOf), int LastIndexOfAny(char[] anyOf, int startI…<\/p>\n

Normalize        Method                string Normalize(), string Normalize(System.Text.NormalizationForm normalizat…<\/p>\n

PadLeft          Method                string PadLeft(int totalWidth), string PadLeft(int totalWidth, char paddingChar)<\/p>\n

PadRight         Method                string PadRight(int totalWidth), string PadRight(int totalWidth, char padding…<\/p>\n

Remove           Method                string Remove(int startIndex, int count), string Remove(int startIndex)<\/p>\n

Replace          Method                string Replace(char oldChar, char newChar), string Replace(string oldValue, s…<\/p>\n

Split            Method                string[] Split(Params char[] separator), string[] Split(char[] separator, int…<\/p>\n

StartsWith       Method                bool StartsWith(string value), bool StartsWith(string value, System.StringCom…<\/p>\n

Substring        Method                string Substring(int startIndex), string Substring(int startIndex, int length)<\/p>\n

ToBoolean        Method                bool IConvertible.ToBoolean(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToByte           Method                byte IConvertible.ToByte(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToChar           Method                char IConvertible.ToChar(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToCharArray      Method                char[] ToCharArray(), char[] ToCharArray(int startIndex, int length)<\/p>\n

ToDateTime       Method                datetime IConvertible.ToDateTime(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToDecimal        Method                decimal IConvertible.ToDecimal(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToDouble         Method                double IConvertible.ToDouble(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToInt16          Method                int16 IConvertible.ToInt16(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToInt32          Method                int IConvertible.ToInt32(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToInt64          Method                long IConvertible.ToInt64(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToLower          Method                string ToLower(), string ToLower(cultureinfo culture)<\/p>\n

ToLowerInvariant Method                string ToLowerInvariant()<\/p>\n

ToSByte          Method                sbyte IConvertible.ToSByte(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToSingle         Method                float IConvertible.ToSingle(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToString         Method                string ToString(), string ToString(System.IFormatProvider provider), string I…<\/p>\n

ToType           Method                System.Object IConvertible.ToType(type conversionType, System.IFormatProvider…<\/p>\n

ToUInt16         Method                uint16 IConvertible.ToUInt16(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToUInt32         Method                uint32 IConvertible.ToUInt32(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToUInt64         Method                uint64 IConvertible.ToUInt64(System.IFormatProvider provider)<\/p>\n

ToUpper          Method                string ToUpper(), string ToUpper(cultureinfo culture)<\/p>\n

ToUpperInvariant Method                string ToUpperInvariant()<\/p>\n

Trim             Method                string Trim(Params char[] trimChars), string Trim()<\/p>\n

TrimEnd          Method                string TrimEnd(Params char[] trimChars)<\/p>\n

TrimStart        Method                string TrimStart(Params char[] trimChars)<\/p>\n

Chars            ParameterizedProperty char Chars(int index) {get;}<\/p>\n

Length           Property              int Length {get;}<\/p>\n

I see that there are also some static members that have been added:<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> $a | gm -Static<\/p>\n

   TypeName: System.String<\/p>\n

Name               MemberType      Definition<\/p>\n

—-                    ———-            ———-<\/p>\n

Compare            Method     static int Compare(string strA, string strB), static int Compare(string strA, string s…<\/p>\n

CompareOrdinal     Method     static int CompareOrdinal(string strA, string strB), static int CompareOrdinal(string …<\/p>\n

Concat             Method     static string Concat(System.Object arg0), static string Concat(System.Object arg0, Sys…<\/p>\n

Copy               Method     static string Copy(string str)<\/p>\n

Equals             Method     static bool Equals(string a, string b), static bool Equals(string a, string b, System….<\/p>\n

Format             Method     static string Format(string format, System.Object arg0), static string Format(string f…<\/p>\n

Intern             Method     static string Intern(string str)<\/p>\n

IsInterned         Method     static string IsInterned(string str)<\/p>\n

IsNullOrEmpty      Method     static bool IsNullOrEmpty(string value)<\/p>\n

IsNullOrWhiteSpace Method     static bool IsNullOrWhiteSpace(string value)<\/p>\n

Join               Method     static string Join(string separator, Params string[] value), static string Join(string…<\/p>\n

new                Method     string new(System.Char*, mscorlib, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b7…<\/p>\n

ReferenceEquals    Method     static bool ReferenceEquals(System.Object objA, System.Object objB)<\/p>\n

Empty              Property   static string Empty {get;}<\/p>\n

The first thing I want to do is to break the string into an array of characters—a character array. Luckily, there is a string method that does just that. I will store the character array in a new variable, $b<\/b>:<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> $b = $a.ToCharArray()<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> $b<\/p>\n

a<\/p>\n

b<\/p>\n

c<\/p>\n

d<\/p>\n

e<\/p>\n

So, now I want to reverse the character array. To do this, I use the static reverse method from the [array]<\/b> object:<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> [array]::Reverse($b)<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> $b<\/p>\n

e<\/p>\n

d<\/p>\n

c<\/p>\n

b<\/p>\n

a<\/p>\n

   Note <\/b> The cool thing here is that the array reverses order. I do not need to save the output in a new variable.
   $b<\/b> now has a reversed array.<\/p>\n

Now I want to regroup the elements of the array back into a string, and store that back into a variable:<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> $c = -join($b)<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> $c<\/p>\n

Edcba<\/p>\n

And my string is back to a string again:<\/p>\n

PS d:\\> $c.GetType()<\/p>\n

IsPublic IsSerial Name                             BaseType<\/p>\n

——– ——– —-                                     ——–<\/p>\n

True     True     String                              System.Object<\/p>\n

SS, that is all there is to using Windows PowerShell to reverse strings. Join me tomorrow when I will talk about more cools stuff.<\/p>\n

I invite you to follow me on Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>. If you have any questions, send email to me at scripter@microsoft.com<\/a>, or post your questions on the Official Scripting Guys Forum<\/a>. See you tomorrow. Until then, peace.<\/p>\n

Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy <\/b><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy, talks about using Windows PowerShell to reverse strings.  Hey, Scripting Guy! I am working with Windows PowerShell, and I need to reverse a string. I am surprised there is no reverse method in the string class. It seems like a major oversight. Anyway, can you show me how to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":596,"featured_media":87096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3,336,45],"class_list":["post-74251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scripting","tag-scripting-guy","tag-strings","tag-windows-powershell"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"

Summary: Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy, talks about using Windows PowerShell to reverse strings.  Hey, Scripting Guy! I am working with Windows PowerShell, and I need to reverse a string. I am surprised there is no reverse method in the string class. It seems like a major oversight. Anyway, can you show me how to […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}