Make it Pretty with ConvertTo-HTML

In this blog post, we'll cover the basics of using the ConvertTo-HTML cmdlet in PowerShell. This cmdlet allows you to convert PowerShell objects into HTML format, making it easy to generate reports and visualizations of your data.

First, let's start with some basics. PowerShell objects are the output of cmdlets or functions in PowerShell. These objects can be manipulated and formatted in various ways, including using the ConvertTo-HTML cmdlet. The basic syntax of the cmdlet is as follows:

ConvertTo-HTML [-Property ] [-As ] [-Head ] [-Body ] [-Title ] [-PreContent ] [-PostContent ] [-Fragment] [-NoTypeInformation] [-UseCulture]

The most important parameter for this cmdlet is the -Property parameter. This parameter specifies which properties of the PowerShell object to include in the HTML output. For example, if you have a list of processes, you might only want to include the process name, process ID, and CPU usage in your HTML report. You can specify these properties like this:

Get-Process | Select-Object Name, Id, CPU | ConvertTo-Html -Property Name, Id, CPU

This will create an HTML table with columns for the Name, Id, and CPU properties of each process.

Another important parameter is -As, which specifies the output format. By default, ConvertTo-HTML outputs a string of HTML code. However, you can also output to a file by specifying the file path in this parameter:

Get-Process | Select-Object Name, Id, CPU | ConvertTo-Html -Property Name, Id, CPU | out-File -filePath C:\temp\ProcessReport.html

This will create a file at C:\Reports\ProcessReport.html with the HTML code for the process report.

The -Head, -Body, -Title, -PreContent, and -PostContent parameters allow you to customize the HTML output further. For example, you can add a custom title to your report like this:

Get-Process | Select-Object Name, Id, CPU | ConvertTo-Html -Property Name, Id, CPU -Title "Process Report"

This will add a <title> tag to the HTML output with the text "Process Report".

The -Fragment parameter is useful when you want to include the HTML output in a larger HTML document. This parameter removes the <html>, <head>, and <body> tags from the output, so you can include it directly in another HTML document.

Finally, the -NoTypeInformation parameter removes the type information from the HTML output. By default, ConvertTo-HTML includes the type information of the objects in the HTML code, which can be useful for debugging purposes. However, if you don't need this information in your report, you can remove it with this parameter.

In conclusion, the ConvertTo-HTML cmdlet is a powerful tool for generating HTML reports and visualizations from PowerShell objects. By using the -Property, -As, -Head, -Body, -Title, -PreContent, and -PostContent parameters, you can customize the output to meet your needs. Give it a try and see how it can make your reporting tasks much easier!

About this post

Posted: 2023-04-10
By: dwirch
Viewed: 240 times

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