powershellsortingversion-numbering

Sort a list that contains version numbers properly


So, I have a list of versions that looks like this:

v1.1.0
v1.2.0
v1.3.0
v1.4.0
v1.5.0
v1.7.0
v1.8.0
v1.9.0
v2.0.0
v2.1.0
v2.10.0
v2.11.0
v2.12.0
v2.2.0
v2.3.0
v2.4.0
v2.5.0
v2.6.0
v2.7.0
v2.8.0
v2.9.0

The problem is, they are ordered incorrectly. I am new to Powershell, so I am having some issues trying to sort them. I tried to do this:

$tags = git tag
$versions = $tags | %{ new-object System.Version ($_) } | sort

But I get this error:

new-object : Exception calling ".ctor" with "1" argument(s): "Version string portion was too short or too long." At line:1 char:24 + $versions = $tags | %{ new-object System.Version ($_) } | sort + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [New-Object], MethodInvocationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ConstructorInvokedThrowException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.NewObjectCommand

Can anyone help?


Update

I have used one of the solutions which looks like this:

$location = Get-Location
$path = $location.tostring() + "\CHANGELOG.md"
$tags = git tag
$i = 0

Clear-Content $path
Add-Content $path "Change Log"
Add-Content $path "=========="
Add-Content $path " "

$ToNatural = { [regex]::Replace($_, '\d+', { $args[0].Value.PadLeft(20) }) }
$tags | Sort-Object $ToNatural

foreach($tag in $tags) 
{
    if (-NOT ($tag -match "v(\d+\.)(\d+\.)(\*|\d+)")) { continue }
    $i = $i + 1
    if ($i -eq 0) { continue }
    $tag
    If ($i -gt 0) {
        $previous = $tags[$i - 1]

        Add-Content $path " "
    }
}

This sort of works, but all tags seem to be console logged and it shows this:

1.6.0
changeDeliveryFieldAccess
orders/autoComplete
returns/autoComplete
save-lines-dates
services/serviceDetails
tile-colours
users/confirmation
v0.1
v1.1.0
v1.2.0
v1.3.0
v1.4.0
v1.5.0
v1.7.0
v1.8.0
v1.9.0
v2.0.0
v2.1.0
v2.2.0
v2.3.0
v2.4.0
v2.5.0
v2.6.0
v2.7.0
v2.8.0
v2.9.0
v2.10.0
v2.11.0
v2.12.0
v.2.7.1

As you can see, there are a few in there that I don't want. Specifically:

1.6.0
changeDeliveryFieldAccess
orders/autoComplete
returns/autoComplete
save-lines-dates
services/serviceDetails
tile-colours
users/confirmation
v.2.7.1

Once those have been purged from my list, then the order will be right :)


Update 2

So I have tried another solution that is hopefully better:

$location = Get-Location $path = $location.tostring() + "\CHANGELOG.md" $tags = git tag $i = 0

Clear-Content $path
Add-Content $path "#Change Log"
Add-Content $path "=========="
Add-Content $path " "

$tags |
  Where-Object { $_.Substring(1) -as [version] } |
   Sort-Object { [version] $_.Substring(1) }

foreach($tag in $tags) {
    write-host "$($tag) is ok"
}

I am not sure if I am doing this right, but this is the output from the above code:

1.6.0 is ok
changeDeliveryFieldAccess is ok
orders/autoComplete is ok
returns/autoComplete is ok
save-lines-dates is ok
services/serviceDetails is ok
tile-colours is ok
users/confirmation is ok
v.2.7.1 is ok
v0.1 is ok
v1.1.0 is ok
v1.2.0 is ok
v1.3.0 is ok
v1.4.0 is ok
v1.5.0 is ok
v1.7.0 is ok
v1.8.0 is ok
v1.9.0 is ok
v2.0.0 is ok
v2.1.0 is ok
v2.10.0 is ok
v2.11.0 is ok
v2.12.0 is ok
v2.2.0 is ok
v2.3.0 is ok
v2.4.0 is ok
v2.5.0 is ok
v2.6.0 is ok
v2.7.0 is ok
v2.8.0 is ok
v2.9.0 is ok

Solution

  • tl;dr:

    You've later indicated that your $tags array also contains other, non-version strings, so these must be filtered out:

    $sortedVersionTags = $tags |
      Where-Object { $_.Substring(1) -as [version] } |
        Sort-Object { [version] $_.Substring(1) }
    

    The v prefix in your version numbers prevents their conversion to [System.Version] instances; simply remove it first (not from the input itself; only temporarily, for the purpose of creating a version-info object e.g., v1.1.0 -> 1.1.0).

    Additionally, your command can be simplified:

    # $tags is an array of lines, as output by `git tag`
    $tags | Sort-Object { [version] $_.Substring(1) }
    

    With your sample input the above yields (note how v2.10.0 correctly sorts after v2.9.0, which wouldn't be the case with lexical sorting):

    v1.1.0
    v1.2.0
    v1.3.0
    v1.4.0
    v1.5.0
    v1.7.0
    v1.8.0
    v1.9.0
    v2.0.0
    v2.1.0
    v2.2.0
    v2.3.0
    v2.4.0
    v2.5.0
    v2.6.0
    v2.7.0
    v2.8.0
    v2.9.0
    v2.10.0
    v2.11.0
    v2.12.0
    

    If you'd rather output System.Version instances instead of the input strings, the command becomes even simpler (PSv3+ syntax):

    [version[]] $tags.Substring(1) | Sort-Object
    

    If there's a possibility that not all strings contained in $tags can be converted this way (due to not having v<version> format), use the following (PSv4+ syntax):

    # Reports non-convertible lines as non-terminating errors, but processes all others.
    $tags.ForEach({ [version] $_.Substring(1) }) | Sort-Object
    

    This approach ensures that encountering strings that cannot be converted do not break the overall command:


    [1] Generally, PowerShell allows you to omit the System. prefix in type names.