Vista Tutorial - Powershell Operator

hi,

I need to do some string comparison but the below script doesnt seem to
return true

$version = "Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003, Enterprise Edition"
$check = "Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003*"

I am checking if the $Check exists in $Version

$Version -match $check

Returns False. Should it return true. Using -Like works dont know why ?

Complementing Keith's answer:

# the -like operator does wildcard comparison
# the -match operator does RegEx comparison
# $check contains RegEx special characters that must be escaped to
# include them in the pattern. Remove the '*' and call [RegEx]'s
# Escape Method to create an escaped RegEx
$version = "Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003, Enterprise Edition"
$check = "Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003"
$version -match [regex]::escape($check)

# these are the RegEx special characters that must be escaped
#.$^{[()*+?\|

--
Kiron

Hi AdityaKir,

Kiron's post pretty much says it all.
One possible way to express $check in order to get a match with
$version would be:-

Kryten -->$version = "Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003, Enterprise
Edition"
Kryten -->$check = "Microsoft\(R\) Windows\(R\) Server 2003*"
Kryten -->$version -match $check
True
Kryten -->$matches

Name Value
---- -----
0 Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003

Here $check has all the '(' and ')' s escaped with the '\'.

From studying previous posts from those waaaay more knowledgable than
I'll _ever_ be I learned that treating
the -match value as a regex was generally a good idea and I've had a
lot more success with it since.

Good luck,
Stuart

Hi AdityaKir,

When you don't know what regex meta characters your variable might contain,
there is a great method to *auto*
escape them:


PS > $check = "Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003*"
PS > $escaped = [regex]::escape($check)
Microsoft\(R\)\ Windows\(R\)\ Server\ 2003\*


---
Shay Levy
Windows PowerShell MVP
http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/ScriptFanatic



A> hi,
A>
A> I need to do some string comparison but the below script doesnt seem
A> to return true
A>
A> $version = "Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003, Enterprise Edition"
A> $check = "Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003*"
A>
A> I am checking if the $Check exists in $Version
A>
A> $Version -match $check
A>
A> Returns False. Should it return true. Using -Like works dont know why
A> ?
A>