Powershell -- Array Casting Type Issue - arrays

Question

and thank you in advance for taking a look.
I am having an issue in a script I wrote in Powershell. The script below is a little sloppy so please forgive me.
Basically, this script takes input from a directory of text files. Each file has a line in it like so, with the following structure:
GlobalPath, AgencyPath,SitePath,SizeofSite (in bytes)
\\servername\shared, \8055\Single\department, \sitename,524835900000
The line in question is:
# Split full path and peak usage
$CalculationBuffer = $DailyBuffer[$k].Split(",")
Which results in the following error:
Method invocation failed because [System.Char] doesn't contain a method named 'Split'.
At D:\script.ps1:387 char:52
+ $CalculationBuffer = $DailyBuffer[$k].Split <<<< (",")
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (Split:String) [], RuntimeException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : MethodNotFound
So my question: Is the array casted incorrectly? Since it is reporting [System.Char] instead of [System.String]?
If the file I am inputting has two lines, it does not result in this error. If the file has only one line, it gets casted as [System.Char] instead.
:Full Script:
# Monthly Output File
[string]$monthoutfile = $ProgPath + "Billing\" + $monthdate + "\_Master_" + $monthdate + ".log"
[string]$currentmonth = $ProgPath + "Billing\" + $monthdate + "\"
# Define what type of files to look for
$files = gci $currentmonth | Where {$_.extension -eq ".log"}
# Create a datastore\dictionary for this month
$MonthDataDictionary = New-Object 'System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[string,long]'
$MonthAvgDictionary = New-Object 'System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[string,long]'
# Arrays
$DailyBuffer = #()
$CalculationBuffer = #()
$TempArray = #()
# Counters\Integers
[int]$Linesinday = 1
[int]$DayCounter = 1
[int]$LineCounter = 0
# Strings
[string]$DailyPath = ""
[string]$Outline = ""
# Longs
[long]$DailyPeak = 0
[long]$Value = 0
##########################################################################
# Begin Loop
# Write once...
#$CalcBuffer += "\"
foreach ($file in $files)
{
# First get content from text file and store in buffer
$DailyBuffer = Get-Content $file.pspath
# Determine how many lines are in the file, call function
$Linesinday = linecount $file.pspath
for ($k = 0; $k -lt $Linesinday; $k++ )
{
# Split full path and peak usage
$CalculationBuffer = $DailyBuffer[$k].Split(",")
# Store site path
$DailyPath = $CalculationBuffer[0] + $CalculationBuffer[1] + $CalculationBuffer[2]
# Store peak usage
$DailyPeak = $CalculationBuffer[3]
# Write to dictionary under conditions
# Check if current path is stored or "Site".
# If NOT .ContainsKey($DailyPath)
if (!($MonthDataDictionary.ContainsKey($DailyPath))) {
# Add Key
$MonthDataDictionary.Add($DailyPath, $DailyPeak)
# If it does contain a value
} elseif ($MonthDataDictionary.ContainsKey($DailyPath)) {
# Add the value to the current value for averaging
$MonthDataDictionary.Item($DailyPath) += $DailyPeak
}
}
# Accumulator
$DayCounter ++
}
# Now that each file is tallied up, run an average calculation
$MonthDataDictionary.getenumerator() | Foreach-Object -process {
$Value = $_.Value / $DayCounter
$MonthAvgDictionary.Add($_.Key, $Value)
}
# Debug:
# Write-Host the values
$MonthAvgDictionary
# Output the "Average Peak" values to a file
$MonthAvgDictionary.getenumerator() | Foreach-Object -process {
# Construct output line
$OutLine = $_.Key + "," + $_.Value
$OutLine >> $MonthOutFile
}

Answer 1

This is a known pitfall in Powershell. Just wrap the Get-Content in an array "expression" #() :
$DailyBuffer = #(Get-Content $file.pspath)

Answer 2

I think the problem you're having is that get-content doesn't return an array of strings (lines), but a single string. Thus, when you look at $dailybuffer[k], you're looking at the kth character of the string, not the kth line.

Answer 3

I had the same problem and only the line just like below solved this problem. For your problem it will be:
[string[]] $DailyBuffer = Get-Content $file.pspath