In the Selecting columns from the output recipe in Chapter 4, Passing Data through the Pipeline, we used a hashtable to set the name and the expression for a custom-named column. Later, we also used a small calculation within the Select-Object statement to get a calculated output. If you tried to select the column by the new name, that would have worked, too. Technically, you have already extended the object. But what is type data anyway? And why do we need a recipe to extend it when we can work with Select-Object?
Going too deep into what type data is and how to work with it, along with .NET classes and objects, could potentially make this concept an advanced one. Historically, most of us learners have put off learning advanced topics. Therefore, we will stick to the simple parts of it, and work only with PowerShell for now. This recipe...