Windows PowerShell Cookbook, 2nd Edition

Appendix D. .NET String Formatting

String Formatting Syntax

The format string supported by the format (-f) operator is a string that contains format items. Each format item takes the form of:

{index[,alignment][:formatString]}

index represents the zero-based index of the item in the object array following the format operator.

alignment is optional and represents the alignment of the item. A positive number aligns the item to the right of a field of the specified width. A negative number aligns the item to the left of a field of the specified width.

PS > ("{0,6}" -f 4.99), ("{0,6:##.00}" -f 15.9)
  4.99
 15.90

formatString is optional and formats the item using that type’s specific format string syntax (as laid out in Tables D-1 and D-2).

Standard Numeric Format Strings

Table D-1 lists the standard numeric format strings. All format specifiers may be followed by a number between 0 and 99 to control the precision of the formatting.

Table D-1. Standard numeric format strings

Format specifier	Name	Description	Example
C or c	Currency	A currency amount.	PS > "{0:C}" -f 1.23 $1.23
D or d	Decimal	A decimal amount (for integral types). The precision specifier controls the minimum number of digits in the result.	PS > "{0:D4}" -f 2 0002
E or e	Scientific	Scientific (exponential) notation. The precision specifier controls the number of digits past the decimal point.	PS > "{0:E3}" -f [Math]::Pi 3.142E+000
F or f	Fixedpoint	Fixed point notation. The precision specifier controls the number of digits past the decimal point. ...