Why doesn't Get-Member give a full list of all properties and methods.

Question

I recently discovered that I can access a property for something that isn't listed when running it through get-member.

Here is an example, which I will demonstrate by using a custom psobject.

First, I'll create the hashtable (which I will later use to create the psobject):

$MyHashtable = @{'column1'="aaa";
                 'column2'="bbb";
                 'column3'="ccc"
}

Now I create my psobject:

PS C:\> $MyNewObject = New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property $MyHashtable

Now if I run this new object through get-member, it shows:

PS C:\> $MyNewObject | Get-Member

   TypeName: System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject

Name        MemberType   Definition                    
----        ----------   ----------                    
Equals      Method       bool Equals(System.Object obj)
GetHashCode Method       int GetHashCode()             
GetType     Method       type GetType()                
ToString    Method       string ToString()             
column1     NoteProperty System.String column1=aaa     
column2     NoteProperty System.String column2=bbb     
column3     NoteProperty System.String column3=ccc

So far, so good (although I suspect that a property called "PSObject" is missing from the above list, which I am about to demonstrate now).

However if I now do:

PS C:\> $MyNewObject.PSObject


Members             : {System.String column1=aaa, System.String column2=bbb, System.String column3=ccc, string ToString()...}
Properties          : {System.String column1=aaa, System.String column2=bbb, System.String column3=ccc}
Methods             : {string ToString(), bool Equals(System.Object obj), int GetHashCode(), type GetType()}
ImmediateBaseObject : 
BaseObject          : 
TypeNames           : {System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject, System.Object}

This worked! How is that possible since "PSObject" wasn't listed as a property when we passed the object through Get-Member.

Hope someone can help.

Answer 1

Use Get-Member -Force to see all members

-Force [SwitchParameter] Adds the intrinsic members (PSBase, PSAdapted, PSObject, PSTypeNames) and the compiler-generated get_ and set_ methods to the display. By default, Get-Member gets these properties in all views other than "Base" and "Adapted," but it does not display them.