Get-Content with -AsByteStream -ReadCount X -Raw should return byte arrays about powershell HOT 2 OPEN

Compare with proof of concept Split-Content

$foo = Split-Content -LiteralPath 'foo.bar' -AsByteStream -ReadCount 3

$foo.GetType().Name
$foo[0].GetType().Name
$foo.Count
$foo[0].Count
$foo[1].Count

Gives list of byte arrays

Object[]
Byte[]
2
3
3

from powershell.

I support this feature request, but let me add some context:

• If -ReadCount is specified, -Raw is ignored (which is unfortunate, and arguably a bug).

• -Raw in combination with -AsByteStream - but without -ReadCount - does emit a [byte[]] array, but it invariably means reading the whole input file into memory.

• -ReadCount - wich currently emits [object[]] arrays - should:

  • emit [string[]] arrays by default
  • if -AsByteStream is also specified, should emit [byte[]] arrays

In other words: when "chunking" is requested via -ReadCount a strongly typed array should be returned, which helps performance, especially in v7.4+ with -AsByeStream, which then allows directly outputting chunked byte data to an external (native) program (which only works with [byte[]] arrays, not with [object[]] arrays).

This is technically a breaking change, but most likely one that falls into bucket 3.

from powershell.