How to update list item on conditional basis using PowerShell in SharePoint 2010

Question

We have a list with a column name category. Now we are removing a category value lets say CTGRY. So how can we update the category value to NEWCTGRY of all the items currently having category CTGRY.

We cannot do it manually as we have thousands of items in the list.

Answer 1

You can use the following PowerShell script to update your category column value.

cls
if((Get-PSSnapin | Where {$_.Name -eq "Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell"}) -eq $null) {
    Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell;
}

$sourceWebURL = "<Site URL>"
$sourceListName = "<Library Name>"

$spSourceWeb = Get-SPWeb $sourceWebURL
$spSourceList = $spSourceWeb.Lists[$sourceListName]
$spSourceItems = $spSourceList.Items | where {$_['Category'] -eq "CTGRY"}

$spSourceItems | ForEach-Object {
    $_['Category'] = "NEWCTGRY"
    $_.update()
}