Directly access specified item in Compare-object results

Question

I have done a Compare-Object and assigned the results to the array variable $NeedToConform. I can iterate through the variable with foreach ($Item in $NeedToConform) and get $Item.SideIndicator, but in my case I already have the item in question in $Package,
and I need to get at the SideIndicator of that specific item. Basically $NeedToConform.$Package.SideIndicator, but that doesn't work. I tried using a dictionary instead of an array, with no joy. 
Is there a trick here, or should I just punt and step through the array each time?
EDIT: Damn, why do I so often find a solution right after posting the question. And why don't I learn and post the question sooner, so I'll find the solution sooner? ;) Anyway, this works.
if ($NeedToConform[[array]::indexof($NeedToConform,$Package)].SideIndicator -eq '<=')
I just wonder, is indexof really just a convenience method that iterates for me? If I might have a hundred or more results in the $NeedToConform array, and I might need to test against a hundred values for $Package, do I have any performance implications
to worry about?
Gordon

Answer 1

mjolinor,
my failure with Dictionary was on multiple fronts.
One, you need to compare two dictionaries. But one of my objects needs to be ordered, and it needs to work in v2, so an ordered dictionary isn't an option. I may have been able to get it to work, but indexof works with the array, so that is my solution for
now. But I am flagging this to come back to for review down the road. Always something new to learn.
Thanks!
Gordon
You can have an ordered dictionary in V2:
$OrderedHT = New-Object collections.specialized.ordereddictionary
You just didn't see it used very often because you couldn't use it to create an object very easily.  The -properties parameter of New-Object would only take a generic/unordered dictionary as an argument.
They fixed that in V3, along with adding the type accelerator ([ordered]) to make it easier to create an ordered dictionary.
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