Using PowerShell CSOM how can I get all versions of a 'Multiple lines of text' field from a SharePoint Online list item?

Question

I have written a PowerShell script that queries a SharePoint list, but I am unable to get the previous versions of a 'Multiple lines of text' field.

I have append changes checked in the field settings, and can get the data I need if only one entry exists in that column.

I am able to get all other data I need from the list such as: Author, ID, Title, etc. So I think I am accessing the list correctly.

Is this possible? or will I need to find a different way to go about doing this.

I apologize if my code is hard to read or follow I'm very new to scripting.

#Import SP assembly
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("Microsoft.SharePoint.Client") | Out-Null
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime") | Out-Null

#Get creds for SP online
$credential = Get-Credential -Credential "[email protected]"

#Connect to SP
$credentials= New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($credential.UserName,$credential.Password)
$webURL="https://mine.sharepoint.com/sites/mysite"
$ctx= New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($webURL)
$ctx.Credentials = $credentials

try{
    #Get the list
    $lists = $ctx.web.Lists
    $list = $lists.GetByTitle("mylist")
    #Get the list items
    $listItems = $list.GetItems([Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.CamlQuery]::CreateAllItemsQuery())
    $ctx.load($listItems)
    $ctx.executeQuery()
    #Loop through the list items
    foreach($listItem in $listItems){
        #get each of the column values     
        $Category = $listItem.FieldValues["Category"]  
        $Title = $listItem.FieldValues["Title"]
        $Origin = $listItem.FieldValues["Origin"]
        $Issues = $listItem.FieldValues["Issues"]
        $Site = $listItem.FieldValues["Site"]
        $IssueStatus = $listItem.FieldValues["Issue_x0020_Status"]
        $Priority = $listItem.FieldValues["Priority"]
        $StartDate = $listItem.FieldValues["Start_x0020_Date"]
        $DueDate = $listItem.FieldValues["Due_x0020_Date"]
        $CompletedDate = $listItem.FieldValues["Completed_x0020_Date"]
        $Modified = $listItem.FieldValues["Modified"]
        $Created = $listItem.FieldValues["Created"]
        #get the user object that created the item
        $Author = $listItem.FieldValues["Author"]
        #make sure the item is a user
        if($Author -is [Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.FieldUserValue]){
            $itemAuthor = $ctx.Web.GetUserById($Author.lookupId)
            $ctx.Load($itemAuthor)
            $ctx.ExecuteQuery()
        }else{
            $itemAuthor = ''
        }
        #get the user who last edited the object
        $Editor = $listItem.FieldValues["Editor"]
        #make sure the object is a person
        if($Editor -is [Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.FieldUserValue]){
            $itemEditor = $ctx.Web.GetUserById($Editor.lookupId)
            $ctx.Load($itemEditor)
            $ctx.ExecuteQuery()
        }else{
            $itemAuthor = ''
        }
        #Get the supervisor object
        $supervisorAssigned = $listItem.FieldValues["Supervisor_x002d_Assigned_x0020_"]
        #Make sure the item is a user
        if($supervisorAssigned -is [Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.FieldUserValue]){
            $supervisor = $ctx.Web.GetUserById($supervisorAssigned.lookupId)
            $ctx.Load($supervisor)
            $ctx.ExecuteQuery()
        }else{
            $supervisor = ''
        }
        #Try to get only text from field
        #$AdminComments = $listItem.FieldValues["Admin_x0020_Comments"] #This works, but only returns data if only 1 entry is present#
        $AdminComments = ''
        foreach($v in $listItem.Versions){
            $AdminComments+= $v["Admin_x0020_Comments"]
        }
        #Try to get only text from field
        #$OpsComments = $listItem.FieldValues["Ops_x0020_Comments"] #This works, but only returns data if only 1 entry is present#
        $OpsComments = ''
        foreach($v in $listItem.Versions){
            $OpsComments+= $v["Ops_x0020_Comments"]
        }
        #Write values to console
        #do something with the data later
        Write-Host "Title: " $Title "Category: " $Category "Origin: " $Origin "Issues: " $Issues "Site: " $Site "Admin Comments: " $AdminComments "Ops Comments: " $OpsComments "Supervisor: " $supervisor.LoginName "Status: " $IssueStatus "Priority: " $Priority "Start Date: " $StartDate "Due Date: " $DueDate "Completed Date: " $CompletedDate "Date Modified: " $Modified "Modified By: " $itemEditor.LoginName "Date Created: " $Created "Author: " $itemAuthor.loginName
    }
}
catch{
    write-host "$($_.Exception.Message)" -foregroundcolor red
}

Answer 1

You need to load and query for the Versions property. I'm surprised this didn't throw an exception on it.

$ctx.Load($listItem.Versions)
$ctx.ExecuteQuery()

 foreach($v in $listItem.Versions){
    $AdminComments+= $v["Admin_x0020_Comments"]
}

Also, is there any reason why you're not using PnP? You could do this whole script in under 20 lines.