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powershelltextoutlookcomobjectcom-object

Outlook/Powershell - Mail object truncating '.Body'


I am writing a script which will run an exe on a users machine, then prompt them to email the details back to me.

The problem code is this:

$ResultsOutput = "DHCPUtil Results at $(Get-Date)
Computer Name : $([System.Environment]::MachineName)
IP Address : 
User Name : $([System.Environment]::UserDomainName)\$([System.Environment]::UserName)
Results:"

$Details -split "`r`n" | % { $ResultsOutput += ([System.Environment]::NewLine + $_.Trim()) }

$Outlook = New-Object -ComObject Outlook.Application
if ($Outlook -ne $null)
{
    $Mail = $Outlook.CreateItem(0)
    $Mail.Subject = "DHCPUtil Results"
    $Mail.Body = $ResultsOutput
    $Mail.Display()
}
else
{
    $Desktop = (Get-Item "~\desktop").FullName
    Write-Host "Outlook not found - saving results to $($Desktop)\DHCPResults.txt"
    $ResultsOutput | Out-File "$($Desktop)\Desktop\DHCPResults.txt"
}

The issue is with $ResultsOutput being added to the $Mail.Body attribute of the mail object, It appears to truncate it to only the first line - the contents of $ResultsOutput is:

DHCPUtil Results at 08/26/2016 13:36:02
Computer Name : COMPNAME
User Name : DOM\user
Results:
Starting Discovery ... 
Sending Packet (Size: 284, Network Adapter: 0.0.0.0, Attempt Type: Broadcast + Unicast)
--Begin Packet--
DHCP: INFORM                (xid=0)
(more below..)

And then $Mail.Body is set to:

DHCPUtil Results at 08/26/2016 13:36:02 
Computer Name : COMPNAME
User Name : DOM\user 
Results: 
Starting Discovery ...

With no further information below it.

running $ResultsOutput | Out-File .\ResultsOutput.txt and opening in Notepad++ confirms the output is CRLF seperated.

I have also tried the below to rule out something strange with the formatting.

$ResultsOutput = "DHCPUtil Results at $(Get-Date)
Computer Name : $([System.Environment]::MachineName)
User Name : $([System.Environment]::UserDomainName)\$([System.Environment]::UserName)
Results:"

$Details -split "`r`n" | % { $ResultsOutput += ([System.Environment]::NewLine + $_.Trim()) }

Where the last line is normally:

$ResultsOutput = "DHCPUtil Results at $(Get-Date)
Computer Name : $([System.Environment]::MachineName)
User Name : $([System.Environment]::UserDomainName)\$([System.Environment]::UserName)
Results:
$($Details)"

Any help to resolve this strange issue would be much appreciated.

edit -

$Details is retrieved via the below code:

$ProcInfo = [System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo]::new() #Create 'info' object for Process
$ProcInfo.Arguments = "-EmulateClient" #Add the argument required
$ProcInfo.FileName = $TempFileName #Point to temp copy of DHCPUtil
$ProcInfo.UseShellExecute = $False #Required for getting the output
$ProcInfo.CreateNoWindow = $True #Hide the popup
$ProcInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = $True #So we can retrieve it as a string
$Results = [System.Diagnostics.Process]::Start($ProcInfo) #Launch the process
Write-Host "Waiting for DHCP Discovery (This can take some time!)" -ForegroundColor Green
$Results.WaitForExit() #Wait for DHCPUtil to complete
$Details = $Results.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd() #Get all of the results after it has completed

Solution

  • Your $ResultsOutput string contains a 0 character.

    You can use following to verify

    # Using the Base64 string you've posted to populate $ResultsOutput
    $ResultsOutput = ([System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetString([System.Convert]::FromBase64String("REhDUFV0aWwgUmVzdWx0cyBhdCAwOC8yNi8yMDE2IDE1OjMzOjE4DQpDb21wdXRlciBOYW1lIDogTVNQMTBCMTINCklQIEFkZHJlc3MgOiAxNzIuMjUuMjUuMTMzIChEaGNwKQ0KVXNlciBOYW1lIDogSFRHXHN3ZWVuZXljDQpSZXN1bHRzOg0KU3RhcnRpbmcgRGlzY292ZXJ5IC4uLgANClNlbmRpbmcgUGFja2V0IChTaXplOiAyODQsIE5ldHdvcmsgQWRhcHRl")))
    
    $ResultsOutput.Contains("`0") # Returns True
    $ResultsOutput.IndexOf("`0") # Returns 160 which is right after "Discovery ..."
    
    $ResultsOutput[147..159] # Outputs Discovery ... just up until the 0 character
    

    The solution then would be to remove 0 characters from you string before putting them in the body of your mail.