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powershellcsvunix-timestamp

Remove lines from CSV file using Powershell

I have a CSV file with logging information. Date/time info in the file is written in UNIX time-stamp format.

I want to remove all lines older than 5 minutes. I use the following code to do this:

$FiveMinutesAgo=(Get-Date ((get-date).toUniversalTime()) -UFormat +%s).SubString(0,10)-300
$Content = Import-Csv "logfile.csv" | where {$_.DateCompleted -gt $FiveMinutesAgo} 
$Content | Export-Csv -delimiter ";" -NoTypeInformation -encoding UTF8 -Path 'logfile.csv'

The CSV file looks like this:

"DateInitiated";"DateStarted";"DateCompleted";"InitiatedBy";"Action";"Status"
"1496659208";"1496659264";"1496752840";"administrator";"Reboot server";"Completed"

No matter whether the five minutes have already passed or not, my CSV file ends up completely empty after executing the script lines above.

Solution

  • I couldn't replicate it in testing (but potentially need the actual source file). I think the issue is that you need to specify both the encoding and delimiter on the Import-CSV as well (as you already have on Export).

    Try this:

    $FiveMinutesAgo=(Get-Date ((get-date).toUniversalTime()) -UFormat +%s).SubString(0,10)-300
$Content = Import-Csv "test.csv" -Delimiter ';' -Encoding UTF8 | where {$_.DateCompleted -gt $FiveMinutesAgo} 
$Content | Export-Csv -delimiter ";" -NoTypeInformation -encoding UTF8 -Path 'logfile.csv'