What does the "#" symbol do in PowerShell? - syntax

Question

I've seen the # symbol used in PowerShell to initialise arrays.
What exactly does the # symbol denote and where can I read more about it?

Answer 1

In PowerShell V2, # is also the Splat operator.
PS> # First use it to create a hashtable of parameters:
PS> $params = #{path = "c:\temp"; Recurse= $true}
PS> # Then use it to SPLAT the parameters - which is to say to expand a hash table
PS> # into a set of command line parameters.
PS> dir #params
PS> # That was the equivalent of:
PS> dir -Path c:\temp -Recurse:$true

Answer 2

PowerShell will actually treat any comma-separated list as an array:
"server1","server2"
So the # is optional in those cases. However, for associative arrays, the # is required:
#{"Key"="Value";"Key2"="Value2"}
Officially, # is the "array operator." You can read more about it in the documentation that installed along with PowerShell, or in a book like "Windows PowerShell: TFM," which I co-authored.

Answer 3

While the above responses provide most of the answer it is useful--even this late to the question--to provide the full answer, to wit:
Array sub-expression (see about_arrays)
Forces the value to be an array, even if a singleton or a null, e.g. $a = #(ps | where name -like 'foo')
Hash initializer (see about_hash_tables)
Initializes a hash table with key-value pairs, e.g.
$HashArguments = #{ Path = "test.txt"; Destination = "test2.txt"; WhatIf = $true }
Splatting (see about_splatting)
Let's you invoke a cmdlet with parameters from an array or a hash-table rather than the more customary individually enumerated parameters, e.g. using the hash table just above, Copy-Item #HashArguments
Here strings (see about_quoting_rules)
Let's you create strings with easily embedded quotes, typically used for multi-line strings, e.g.:
$data = #"
line one
line two
something "quoted" here
"#
Because this type of question (what does 'x' notation mean in PowerShell?) is so common here on StackOverflow as well as in many reader comments, I put together a lexicon of PowerShell punctuation, just published on Simple-Talk.com. Read all about # as well as % and # and $_ and ? and more at The Complete Guide to PowerShell Punctuation. Attached to the article is this wallchart that gives you everything on a single sheet:

Answer 4

You can also wrap the output of a cmdlet (or pipeline) in #() to ensure that what you get back is an array rather than a single item.
For instance, dir usually returns a list, but depending on the options, it might return a single object. If you are planning on iterating through the results with a foreach-object, you need to make sure you get a list back. Here's a contrived example:
$results = #( dir c:\autoexec.bat)
One more thing... an empty array (like to initialize a variable) is denoted #().

Answer 5

The Splatting Operator
To create an array, we create a variable and assign the array. Arrays are noted by the "#" symbol. Let's take the discussion above and use an array to connect to multiple remote computers:
$strComputers = #("Server1", "Server2", "Server3")<enter>
They are used for arrays and hashes.
PowerShell Tutorial 7: Accumulate, Recall, and Modify Data
Array Literals In PowerShell

Answer 6

I hope this helps to understand it a bit better.
You can store "values" within a key and return that value to do something.
In this case I have just provided #{a="";b="";c="";} and if not in the options i.e "keys" (a, b or c) then don't return a value
$array = #{
a = "test1";
b = "test2";
c = "test3"
}
foreach($elem in $array.GetEnumerator()){
if ($elem.key -eq "a"){
$key = $elem.key
$value = $elem.value
}
elseif ($elem.key -eq "b"){
$key = $elem.key
$value = $elem.value
}
elseif ($elem.key -eq "c"){
$key = $elem.key
$value = $elem.value
}
else{
Write-Host "No other value"
}
Write-Host "Key: " $key "Value: " $value
}