PowerShell ConvertTo-HTML CSS

PowerShell is a powerful Windows automation tool that allows system administrators and developers to automate tasks and manage configurations. One of the key features of PowerShell is the ability to convert data into HTML format, which can then be viewed in a web browser.

In this guide, we will explore how to use the ConvertTo-HTML command in PowerShell to generate HTML code based on different input data sources, and how to customize the styles and appearance of HTML output using CSS.

ConvertTo-HTML command

The ConvertTo-HTML command is used to convert data from different input sources, such as CSV, XML, or PowerShell objects, into HTML format. Here is the basic syntax of the command:

ConvertTo-Html [-InputObject] <PSObject[]> [-Property <String[]>] [-As <String>] [-Head <String[]>] [-PreContent <String>] [-PostContent <String>] [-CssUri <Uri>] [<CommonParameters>]

We can use the -InputObject parameter to specify the PowerShell objects that we want to convert into HTML.

Convert CSV file to HTML

One of the most common use cases for the ConvertTo-HTML command is to convert data from a CSV file into an HTML table. Here is an example of how to do it:

$csvData = Import-Csv -Path C:\data.csv
$tableData = $csvData | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -Property Name, Age, Address
$tableData | Out-File -FilePath C:\table.html

In this example, we first use the Import-Csv command to read the data from a CSV file, and then we use ConvertTo-Html to convert the data into an HTML table. The -As parameter is set to Table to indicate that we want the output to be in table format, and the -Property parameter is used to specify the column headers for the table.

Finally, we use the Out-File command to save the HTML output to a file.

Customize HTML appearance with CSS

By default, the HTML output generated by the ConvertTo-HTML command is quite basic and may not have the exact look and feel that we want. However, we can use CSS to customize the appearance and styling of HTML tables, headers, footers and more.

Here is an example of how to add CSS styling to an HTML table generated by ConvertTo-HTML command:

$csvData = Import-Csv -Path C:\data.csv
$tableData = $csvData | ConvertTo-Html -As Table -Property Name, Age, Address
$body = $tableData | Out-String

$header = @"
    <style>
        table {
            font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
            border-collapse: collapse;
            width: 100%;
        }
        td, th {
            border: 1px solid #dddddd;
            text-align: left;
            padding: 8px;
        }
        th {
            background-color: #dddddd;
            color: white;
        }
    </style>
"@

$output = "$header $body"
$output | Out-File -FilePath C:\table.html

In this example, we first use the ConvertTo-HTML command to generate an HTML table from CSV data. Then we use the Out-String command to convert the HTML output to a string, so we can add additional HTML code to it.

We create a variable $header to define the CSS styling for the table. We set the font family, border-collapse, width, and color of the table and its cells, and we also set the background color and font color for the table headers.

Finally, we concatenate the $header and $body variables and save the complete HTML output to a file using Out-File.

Conclusion

In this guide, we have explored how to use the ConvertTo-HTML command in PowerShell to generate HTML code based on different input data sources, and how to customize the styles and appearance of HTML output using CSS. By leveraging the power of PowerShell and CSS, we can easily create dynamic HTML reports, tables and dashboards to visualize and present data in a meaningful and engaging way.