PowerShell Find specific text within a string, with a list of partial file names. $_.split

Recently i was looking for a way to select all the text between two brackets and ignore everything else in the string.  This was necessary as i had a list of partial file name and i wanted a way of matching my list with a directory listing.

The use of '$_.split' command achieved this very nicely.

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How to i select specific text in a string?

$text='this is an (apple). it is red'

#The variable $text contains the word 'apple' between two opposite brackets.

$text|%{$_.split('(')[1]}|%{$_.split(')')[0]}

# $text is piped into a foreach loop spliting the string, removing everything before the first bracket (. It is then piped into a second foreach loop removing everything after the second bracket ).
                                  

apple # On screen the returned result is apple. This is useful if you are looking for partial file names, or a specific string within a string.

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What does "%" mean in powershell syntax ?

The percentage sign '%' is used as an alias for 'ForEach-Object':

PS > get-alias -definition foreach-object

CommandType Name Definition
----------- ---- ----------
Alias % ForEach-Object
Alias foreach ForEach-Object