DE

Tools

Practical PowerShell scripts and helper tools for everyday IT

In the course of my daily work on complex IT infrastructures and automation, useful small helpers and modules emerge. I share these tools on GitHub to make administration and development easier for others.

Split-Array

PowerShell module
Repository on GitHub

Sequential processing of large data sets can take a long time — especially with cloud APIs. The answer is parallelisation, and for that the data first has to be split into portions (chunks).

So this wheel isn't reinvented in every script, Split-Array takes care of exactly this step: it splits an array into an array of arrays — either by maximum chunk size or into a fixed number of chunks.

Small but neat: edge cases are handled, and input works both as an argument and via the pipeline.

ONE ARRAY · 8 ELEMENTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Split-Array 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ARRAY OF ARRAYS · 3 CHUNKS

Installation

The module is cloned from the repository and imported via its manifest:

git clone https://github.com/kreisi-dev/Split-Array SplitArray
Import-Module ./SplitArray/SplitArray.psd1

PowerShell 5.1 or newer is required. For permanent availability, copy the SplitArray folder into one of your $env:PSModulePath directories and import it by name.

Currently available directly via GitHub, not in the PowerShell Gallery.

Usage examples

1. Split by maximum chunk size (-ChunkSize)

Defines the maximum number of elements allowed in a sub-array. Ideal for API batches.

# Greedy distribution (default): fills chunks to the maximum
Split-Array -InputObject 1..10 -ChunkSize 3
# Result: (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (7,8,9), (10)

# Even distribution: spreads the remainder evenly
Split-Array -InputObject 1..10 -ChunkSize 3 -Distribution Even
# Result: (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (7,8), (9,10)

2. Split into exactly N chunks (-MaxChunk)

Splits the array into a fixed number of chunks.

# Even distribution (default): produces exactly 4 balanced chunks
Split-Array -InputObject 1..10 -MaxChunk 4
# Result: (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (7,8), (9,10)

3. Pad the last chunk (-Pad)

Fills the last chunk with a value until it matches the size of the first chunk — useful when downstream code expects equally sized chunks.

# Pad with $null up to the full chunk size
Split-Array -InputObject 1..10 -ChunkSize 3 -Pad $null
# Result: (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (7,8,9), (10,$null,$null)

Distribution strategies

Strategy Behaviour Default for
Greedy Fills each chunk to the maximum; the last chunk takes the remaining elements. -ChunkSize
Even Spreads the remainder element by element across the first chunks; always produces exactly the requested number of chunks. -MaxChunk

Parameters

Parameter Function
InputObject The array or elements to split. Accepts pipeline input.
ChunkSize Maximum number of elements per chunk. Mutually exclusive with -MaxChunk.
MaxChunk Desired number of output chunks. Mutually exclusive with -ChunkSize.
Distribution Distribution strategy Greedy or Even — controls how the remainder is placed.
Pad Value used to fill the last chunk to a uniform size (e.g. $null, 0, "x").

Join-Object

PowerShell module
Repository on GitHub

Within a single cmdlet the PowerShell pipeline is elegant. But as soon as the outputs of several cmdlets have to be combined, the manual work begins: loops, temporary variables and hand-maintained hashtable lookups.

Join-Object combines the outputs of two cmdlets by a shared identity — such as an SMTP address or GUID — into a single object, right in the pipeline.

Each cmdlet is called exactly once, without any explicit loops. The result stays a compact, readable one-liner.

CMDLET A · ID + A + B ID A B CMDLET B · ID + C + D ID C D by identity ID A B C D ONE OBJECT · ID + A + B + C + D

Installation

The module is cloned from the repository and imported via its manifest:

git clone https://github.com/kreisi-dev/Join-Object JoinObject
Import-Module ./JoinObject/JoinObject.psd1

PowerShell 5.1 or newer is required. A short alias Join is available for calling it.

Currently available directly via GitHub, not in the PowerShell Gallery.

Usage examples

1. Combine services with process information

Links Get-Service and Get-Process by their shared Name property.

Get-Service | Join Get-Process -IdentityProperty Name |
    Select-Object Name, Status, CPU, WorkingSet

2. Enrich mailbox statistics

Adds its statistics to each shared mailbox — one call per cmdlet, no loop.

Get-Mailbox -RecipientTypeDetails SharedMailbox |
    Join-Object Get-MailboxStatistics |
    Select-Object PrimarySmtpAddress, TotalItemSize, ItemCount

3. Pass through parameters and overwrite fields

Via -Options (alias -With) additional parameters go to the target cmdlet; -Force overwrites fields of the same name instead of suffixing them.

$Users | Join-Object Get-ADUser -With @{ Properties = 'Department', 'Office' } -Force

Parameters

Parameter Function
Cmdlet Name of the cmdlet whose output is joined.
InputObject The object from the pipeline; passed automatically.
IdentityProperty Explicit identity property, if it is not detected automatically.
Options (With) Hashtable of additional parameters for the target cmdlet.
Force Overwrites fields of the same name instead of suffixing them.
Looking ahead

More over time

I have set out to share small helpers from my day-to-day work here, one by one. Whatever proves itself in practice earns its place on this page.