function Add-ObjectDetail { <# .SYNOPSIS Decorate an object with - A TypeName - New properties - Default parameters .DESCRIPTION Helper function to decorate an object with - A TypeName - New properties - Default parameters .PARAMETER InputObject Object to decorate. Accepts pipeline input. .PARAMETER TypeName Typename to insert. This will show up when you use Get-Member against the resulting object. .PARAMETER PropertyToAdd Add these noteproperties. Format is a hashtable with Key (Property Name) = Value (Property Value). Example to add a One and Date property: -PropertyToAdd @{ One = 1 Date = (Get-Date) } .PARAMETER DefaultProperties Change the default properties that show up .PARAMETER Passthru Whether to pass the resulting object on. Defaults to true .EXAMPLE # # Create an object to work with $Object = [PSCustomObject]@{ First = 'Cookie' Last = 'Monster' Account = 'CMonster' } #Add a type name and a random property Add-ObjectDetail -InputObject $Object -TypeName 'ApplicationX.Account' -PropertyToAdd @{ AnotherProperty = 5 } # First Last Account AnotherProperty # ----- ---- ------- --------------- # Cookie Monster CMonster 5 #Verify that get-member shows us the right type $Object | Get-Member # TypeName: ApplicationX.Account ... .EXAMPLE # # Create an object to work with $Object = [PSCustomObject]@{ First = 'Cookie' Last = 'Monster' Account = 'CMonster' } #Add a random property, set a default property set so we only see two props by default Add-ObjectDetail -InputObject $Object -PropertyToAdd @{ AnotherProperty = 5 } -DefaultProperties Account, AnotherProperty # Account AnotherProperty # ------- --------------- # CMonster 5 #Verify that the other properties are around $Object | Select -Property * # First Last Account AnotherProperty # ----- ---- ------- --------------- # Cookie Monster CMonster 5 .NOTES This breaks the 'do one thing' rule from certain perspectives... The goal is to decorate an object all in one shot This abstraction simplifies decorating an object, with a slight trade-off in performance. For example: 10,000 objects, add a property and typename: Add-ObjectDetail: ~4.6 seconds Add-Member + PSObject.TypeNames.Insert: ~3 seconds Initial code borrowed from Shay Levy: http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/scriptfanatic/2012/04/13/custom-objects-default-display-in-powershell-30/ #> [CmdletBinding()] param( [Parameter( Mandatory = $true, Position=0, ValueFromPipeline=$true )] [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()] [psobject[]]$InputObject, [Parameter( Mandatory = $false, Position=1)] [string]$TypeName, [Parameter( Mandatory = $false, Position=2)] [System.Collections.Hashtable]$PropertyToAdd, [Parameter( Mandatory = $false, Position=3)] [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()] [Alias('dp')] [System.String[]]$DefaultProperties, [boolean]$Passthru = $True ) Begin { if($PSBoundParameters.ContainsKey('DefaultProperties')) { # define a subset of properties $ddps = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSPropertySet DefaultDisplayPropertySet,$DefaultProperties $PSStandardMembers = [System.Management.Automation.PSMemberInfo[]]$ddps } } Process { foreach($Object in $InputObject) { switch ($PSBoundParameters.Keys) { 'PropertyToAdd' { foreach($Key in $PropertyToAdd.Keys) { #Add some noteproperties. Slightly faster than Add-Member. $Object.PSObject.Properties.Add( ( New-Object PSNoteProperty($Key, $PropertyToAdd[$Key]) ) ) } } 'TypeName' { #Add specified type [void]$Object.PSObject.TypeNames.Insert(0,$TypeName) } 'DefaultProperties' { # Attach default display property set Add-Member -InputObject $Object -MemberType MemberSet -Name PSStandardMembers -Value $PSStandardMembers } } if($Passthru) { $Object } } } }