Create a Multidimensional Hash Table Array in Powershell

Question

I was wondering if there was a shorter way to create a multidimentional hashtable array in powershell. I have been able to successfully create them with a couple of lines like so.

$arr = @{}
$arr["David"] = @{}
$arr["David"]["TSHIRTS"] = @{}
$arr["David"]["TSHIRTS"]["SIZE"] = "M"

That said I was wondering if there was any way to shorten this to something like this...

$new_arr["Level1"]["Level2"]["Level3"] = "Test" 

Where it would create a new level if it doesn't already exist. Thanks!

Answer 1

You need to name/define the sub-levels or else the interpreter doesn't know what kind of type it's working with (array, single node, object, etc.)

$arr = @{
    David = @{
        TSHIRTS = @{
            SIZE = 'M'
        }
    }
}