Find multiple instances of different specific text on each line in a file

Question

I have a text file that is generated every few weeks that looks something like this:
Pick 1 - <A href="../teams/team_45.html">Guelph Royals</A>: SP <A href="../players/player_6153.html">Curt Amador</A> </TD></TR>
Pick 2 - <A href="../teams/team_34.html">Hillsborough Highlanders</A>: 3B <A href="../players/player_8813.html">Zach Watson</A> </TD></TR>
Pick 3 - <A href="../teams/team_40.html">Brooklyn Hoodrats</A>: SP <A href="../players/player_4162.html">Jerry Davis</A> </TD></TR>
Pick 4 - <A href="../teams/team_47.html">Toronto Titans</A>: SP <A href="../players/player_9776.html">Toby Walker</A> </TD></TR>
(and so on through about 50 lines)
I want to run the data through a script that extracts only parts of each line. I need:
1) the Pick # (everything before the "-"
2) the player's position number (the two characters before the second "<A href=" I.E. "SP" or "3B")
3) the 4 digit player number (the 4 digits after "/players/player_"
4) the player's name (everything between ".html">" and "</A> </TD></TR>"
I'm not nearly as up on my text manipulation as I should be, and I know stripping out text that has quotes is going to mess me up. Would someone be able to show me a way to do this and perhaps even explain their code?
Thank you in advance.
[email protected]

Answer 1

That's probably going to be easiest with a regex.
$text =
Pick 1 - <A href="../teams/team_45.html">Guelph Royals</A>: SP <A href="../players/player_6153.html">Curt Amador</A> </TD></TR>
Pick 2 - <A href="../teams/team_34.html">Hillsborough Highlanders</A>: 3B <A href="../players/player_8813.html">Zach Watson</A> </TD></TR>
Pick 3 - <A href="../teams/team_40.html">Brooklyn Hoodrats</A>: SP <A href="../players/player_4162.html">Jerry Davis</A> </TD></TR>
Pick 4 - <A href="../teams/team_47.html">Toronto Titans</A>: SP <A href="../players/player_9776.html">Toby Walker</A> </TD></TR>
'@).split("`n") |
foreach {$_.trim()}
$regex = 'Pick (\d+) - <A href=".+?">.+?</A>: (..) <A href=".+?player_(\d{4}).html">(.+?)</A> </TD></TR>'
$text |
foreach {
if ($_ -match $regex)
[PSCustomObject]@{
Pick = $Matches[1]
Position = $Matches[2]
Number = $Matches[3]
Name = $Matches[4]
Pick Position Number Name
1 SP 6153 Curt Amador
2 3B 8813 Zach Watson
3 SP 4162 Jerry Davis
4 SP 9776 Toby Walker
[string](0..33|%{[char][int](46+("686552495351636652556262185355647068516270555358646562655775 0645570").substring(($_*2),2))})-replace " "