Powershell function - return object

Try the below and use $rtr later on

$one = Import-Csv 'C:\Ref_List.csv'
$two = Import-Csv 'C:\Second_List.csv'
$three = 'EMPLOYEE_NUMBER'
$rtr = @()

Function Compare-Lists {
	param($one,
		$two,
		$three)
	
	$rtr = Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $one -DifferenceObject $two -Property $three -IncludeEqual
}

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Ok, I will....just one quick question....why not use 'return'? maybe that's where I'm getting confused...

I tried it...the function executes without problems but I don't see the first 20 entries...what am I doing wrong?

$one = Import-Csv 'C:\Ref_List.csv'
$two = Import-Csv 'C:\Second_List.csv'
$three = 'EMPLOYEE_NUMBER'
$rtn = @()

# Compares two sorted lists
Function Compare-Lists {
	param($one,
		$two,
		$three)
	
	$rtn = Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $one -DifferenceObject $two -Property $three -IncludeEqual
}

$val = compare-lists $one $two $three
$val | Select-Object EMPLOYEE_NUMBER -First 20

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@Chris
I tested your suggestion and it worked....however, I had a question....how different is your suggestion to what I ended up using....using return $ ( ) inside the function...

$one = Import-Csv 'C:\Ref_List.csv'
$two = Import-Csv 'C:\Second_List.csv'
$three = 'EMPLOYEE_NUMBER'

# Compares two sorted lists
Function Compare-Lists {
	param($one,
		$two,
		$three)
	
	return $(Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $one -DifferenceObject $two -Property $three -IncludeEqual)
	
}

$val = compare-lists $one $two $three

$val | Select-Object -First 20

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In this case, not any different at all. Mine only has the advantage that it's less to write :)

That said, return has to be used with a bit of care, although there's nothing wrong with what you have above. Perhaps consider these examples to demonstrate its use:

Function Do-Stuff1 {
  $Test = $True
  If ($Test) {
    Return "Test is set"
  }
  Return "Test is not set"
}

Function Do-Stuff2 {
  $Test = $True
  If ($Test) {
    "Test is set"
  }
  "Test is not set"
}

Do-Stuff1
Do-Stuff2

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HTH

Chris

@Chris
I see the difference...thanks. One last thing, you see how I'm using the property "EMPLOYEE_NUMBER" value to do the comparison...how could I return a more valuable output with more columns in addition to EMPLOYEE_NUMBER? For example, say that I wanted to return two additional columns from variable $one (FIRST_NAME and LAST_NAME) so that the output would be as follows:

EMPLOYEE_NUMBER,FIRST_NAME,LAST_NAME

The way I manage to do this right now is by using a different function...but wondering if the Compare-Object had an easier way get this output.

I'm looking for something like the Sort-Object where I pass the CSV file and tell it to sort on a given column and the ouput contains all the columns in sorted order.....like this:

Import-CSV C:\file.csv | Sort-Object {[int] $_.EMPLOYEE_NUMBER}

$val, the result of CompareObject should have an InputObject. That means you should be able to grab additional properties.

If it is not giving you anything else, can you post sample copies of your files? It's for testing only, so feel free to fabricate data, I only need the format of each.

Chris

@Chris

Here are the structures for each of the files.

#CSV file1. HR Reference file.
#
EMPLOYEE_NUMBER,UNIQUE_ID,FIRST_NAME,LAST_NAME,TITLE,DEPARTMENT,STATE
12345,HG98234,Ringo,Star,Manager,Accounting,TX
54321,NA23450,Michael,Jackson,Supervisor,Finance,CO
43216,BG23540,Hillary,Clinton,Manager,Operations,WA


#CSV file2. Active Directory file.
#
EMPLOYEE_NUMBER,FIRST_NAME,LAST_NAME,ZIP_CODE
12345,Ringo,Star,12345
54321,Michael,Jackson,65432
43216,Hillary,Clinton,21345

I found Shay's script basically joins the two files, but for some reason it's not working for me..

http://www.powergui.org/thread.jspa?threadID=6773

Thanks for the help.

For a supplement to the answer to this question using a hashtable see this other post

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/26928287/Compare-Object-giving-two-different-results-why.html