Hashtables and key order
You can give one sequential key as you add elements:
$hashtable = @{}
$hashtable[$hashtable.count] = @("Switzerland", "Bern")
$hashtable[$hashtable.count] = @("Spain", "Madrid")
$hashtable[$hashtable.count] = @("Italy", "Rome")
$hashtable[$hashtable.count] = @("Germany", "Berlin")
$hashtable
Then, you can get elements sorted by the key:
echo "`nHashtable keeping the order as they were added"
foreach($item in $hashtable.getEnumerator() | Sort Key)
{
$item
}
You can use an ordered dictionary instead:
Like this:
$list = New-Object System.Collections.Specialized.OrderedDictionary
$list.Add("Switzerland", "Bern")
$list.Add("Spain", "Madrid")
$list.Add("Italy", "Rome")
$list.Add("Germany", "Berlin")
$list
There is no built-in solution in PowerShell V1 / V2. You will want to use the .NET
System.Collections.Specialized.OrderedDictionary
:
$order = New-Object System.Collections.Specialized.OrderedDictionary
$order.Add("Switzerland", "Bern")
$order.Add("Spain", "Madrid")
$order.Add("Italy", "Rome")
$order.Add("Germany", "Berlin")
PS> $order
Name Value
---- -----
Switzerland Bern
Spain Madrid
Italy Rome
Germany Berlin
In PowerShell V3 you can cast to [ordered]:
PS> [ordered]@{"Switzerland"="Bern"; "Spain"="Madrid"; "Italy"="Rome"; "Germany"="Berlin"}
Name Value
---- -----
Switzerland Bern
Spain Madrid
Italy Rome
Germany Berlin