René's URL Explorer Experiment

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"`Export-Csv`/`ConvertTo-Csv` to better stringify complex properties","articleBody":"### Summary of the new feature / enhancement\r\n\r\nAlthough questionable, trying to put a structured object into a flat `csv` file, is a quite common question at stackoverflow (see e.g.: [Getting System.Object[] issue for JSON Array data in output in PowerShell Script](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/77186196/getting-system-object-issue-for-json-array-data-in-output-in-powershell-script)). This is often based on a misconception of the concerned structures, stingifying it to just the type name (as e.g. `System.Object[]`) is quiet pointless, instead I would expect the complex properties to have a similar value as the display format of `Format-Table`:\r\n\r\n```PowerShell\r\n$List = [PSCustomObject]@{\r\n  int = 1\r\n  string = 'One'\r\n  Array = 1, 2\r\n  HashTable = @{ '1' = 'One'; '2' = 'Two' } # Using string keys, see: #5749\r\n  Object = [PSCustomObject]@{ 1 = 'One'; 2 = 'Two' }\r\n},\r\n[PSCustomObject]@{\r\n  int = 2\r\n  string = 'Two'\r\n  Array = 3, 4\r\n  HashTable = @{ '3' = 'Three'; '4' = 'Four' }\r\n  Object = [PSCustomObject]@{ 3 = 'Three'; 4 = 'Four' }\r\n}\r\n```\r\n\u003csup\u003e(`2023-10-01`: Changed hashtable to string keys for reason explained at: #5749)\u003c/sup\u003e\r\n\r\n### `Format-Table` output\r\n```PowerShell\r\n$List | Format-Table\r\n\r\nint string Array  HashTable               Object\r\n--- ------ -----  ---------               ------\r\n  1 One    {1, 2} {[2, Two], [1, One]}    @{1=One; 2=Two}\r\n  2 Two    {3, 4} {[4, Four], [3, Three]} @{3=Three; 4=Four}\r\n```\r\n\r\n### Current `ConvertTo-Csv` output\r\n```PowerShell\r\n$List | ConvertTo-Csv\r\n\"int\",\"string\",\"Array\",\"HashTable\",\"Object\"\r\n\"1\",\"One\",\"System.Object[]\",\"System.Collections.Hashtable\",\"@{1=One; 2=Two}\"\r\n\"2\",\"Two\",\"System.Object[]\",\"System.Collections.Hashtable\",\"@{3=Three; 4=Four}\"\r\n```\r\n\r\n### Expected `ConvertTo-Csv` output (wishful thinking)\r\n```PowerShell\r\n$List | ConvertTo-Csv\r\n\"int\",\"string\",\"Array\",\"HashTable\",\"Object\"\r\n\"1\",\"One\",\"{1, 2}\",\"{[2, Two], [1, One]}\",\"@{1=One; 2=Two}\"\r\n\"2\",\"Two\",\"{3, 4}\",\"{[4, Four], [3, Three]}\",\"@{3=Three; 4=Four}\"\r\n```\r\nApart from the fact that is makes more sense, it might also help to troubleshoot and understand the situation.\r\n","author":{"url":"https://github.com/iRon7","@type":"Person","name":"iRon7"},"datePublished":"2023-09-27T12:09:16.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":6},"url":"https://github.com/20383/PowerShell/issues/20383"}