PowerTip: Use PowerShell to pick a random name from a list
Doctor Scripto
Summary: Using the Get-Random Cmdlet to select a random list of names instead of numbers
Hey! Dr. Scripto!
I’d like to pick a random name from a list to generate user names in my lab.  Could you show me an example?
I’d be delighted to.  Just use an array of names and then add them as a parameter to Get-Random.  You could even pipe it to Get-Random if you liked as well.
$NameList=’John’,’Charlotte’,’Sean’,’Colleen’,’Namoli’,’Maura’,’Neula’
Get-Random -InputObject $NameList
Windows PowerShell, Sean Kearney, Scripting Guy, PowerTip
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2 comments
Is there a reason, other than just to be explicit, to specify -InputObject? Rather than say Get-Random $NameList or Get-Random ’John’,’Charlotte’,’Sean’,’Colleen’,’Namoli’,’Maura’,’Neula’
It is a best practice to type the full name of cmdlets and parameters within the script body.