Objects versus text

Understand why a displayed table is only a view, and inspect the properties behind it.

Lesson 2 min read Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7

Written and tested by Dhrub Bharali · Updated 02 October 2026

Overview

A service table may show Status, Name and DisplayName. That does not mean each row is a string containing three columns. The command returns objects; PowerShell chooses a display after the pipeline finishes.

Compare Get-Service | Select-Object -First 1 with the same command followed by Get-Member. The first displays a service. The second describes the type and available members. Get-Member consumes the objects you give it and returns member descriptions; it does not pass the original service along.

The example selects Name and Status before calling Get-Member. You should therefore expect a selected object with those properties. To inspect the original service type, call Get-Member before projecting the properties.

Text still appears in PowerShell: file lines, a quoted string and many native command responses are text. Once you use Out-String, the result is a string representation. Keep the original objects for filtering and exporting instead of splitting their displayed columns.

See the objects move

Inspect this authored example with fictional data in the bounded browser model. The numbered stages show how its objects change.

Get-Service | Select-Object -First 1 Name, Status, StartType

Stage 1Get-ServicePositional values or no named parameters
Stage 2Select-Object-First

The object workshop

Watch your command work.

Change the command. Step through the pipeline. Inspect what survives.

5 fictional services

PowerShell pipeline

Browser simulation · fictional services · Ctrl+Enter to run

Object properties

Enable JavaScript to step through this example. The lessons and command reference remain available.

Your task: return the stopped service, with exactly Name and Status.

What happens

Run the example and find Name and Status in the member list. Remove the Select-Object stage and compare the members again. The difference comes from the projection, not from a service changing on the machine.

Worth remembering

Use property names to work with structured data. Use text parsing when the source actually returns text.

Primary documentation

Microsoft Learn: objects

Try it

Browser simulation · fictional data; no changes to your computer.

Command

Interactive simulation · fictional data

Get-Member describes the selected Name and Status properties; it does not pass the original service object to the next command.

Show reference output

Sample output · fictional data, shaped like the real thing

Name    MemberType
------  ----------
Name    Property  
Status  Property

FIRST REPORT · READ THE PROPERTIES

Practise without copying

Return the first service with exactly Name, Status and StartType. Before running, name the property that tells you how startup is configured.

How the worked example fits together

A report begins with properties, not spaces in a displayed table. The first fictional service is BITS. Selecting its three properties produces one structured record that the next command can still inspect.

Get-Service | Select-Object -First 1 Name, Status, StartType

StartType describes startup configuration; Status describes the current state. Neither proves application health.

Your PowerShell pipeline

Bounded browser simulation · fictional services · no computer or tenant access.

Predict the result, write your pipeline, then run it.

Practise this

Choose two service properties

Return only Name and Status for all services.

Review the lesson

Keep going

Next: The pipeline