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7.6 Determine Whether an Array Contains an Item

Problem

You want to determine whether an array or list contains a specific item.

Solution

To determine whether a list contains a specific item, use the -contains operator:

PS > "Hello","World" -contains "Hello"
True
PS > "Hello","World" -contains "There"
False

Alternatively, use the -in operator, which acts like the -contains operator with its operands reversed:

PS > "Hello" -in "Hello","World"
True
PS > "There" -in "Hello","World"
False

Discussion

The -contains and -in operators are useful ways to quickly determine whether a list contains a specific element. To search a list for items that instead match a pattern, use the -match or -like operators.

For more information about the -contains, -in, -match, and -like operators, see “Comparison Operators”.

See Also

“Comparison Operators”