Category: Powershell

Robert Cain gets verbose on us:

In my previous post, Fun With the PowerShell Switch Parameter, I introduced the use of switches with PowerShell functions. We learned how they work, and how to create your own. For all functions, PowerShell creates a set of switches that are just “built in” to PowerShell. You do not have to explicitly create these yourself, you can simply use them and implement them within your own functions.

Two of the most used are -Verbose and -Debug. When used with the Write-Verbose and Write-Debug cmdlets they will display informational messages to the user of your functions. In this post, we’ll focus on the Verbose switch. The next post in the series will examine the Debug switch.

Click through for examples of how this can be useful.

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Kenneth Fisher has a one-liner for us:

As with all programming tasks there are a number of ways to do something, this is just one that I found recently, and that I found to be particularly useful. And by useful I mean it works, and it’s easy.

If you like useful and easy, keep on reading.

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Robert Cain continues a series on functions in Powershell:

In my previous post, I covered the use of PowerShell Advanced Functions. I highly suggest you read it if you haven’t, it provides some foundational knowledge that will be important to understand for this post.

In this post, we’ll see how to pipeline enable your functions. Just like a cmdlet, you’ll be able to take input from the pipeline, work with it, then send it out your function back into the pipeline.

Making your code pipeline-friendly is especially important if you want others to use your functions, as that’s one of the biggest benefits of Powershell as a language.

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Phil Factor has a new cmdlet for us:

Whatever your development methodology, you need to make changes lightning fast, and the easiest way of doing that is to test frequently. If you are driving this work with PowerShell, which works well, you’ll want to compare the actual results of a process with the expected results. You’re keen to see what’s changed but will often have no idea what to look for beforehand. You need the broad view.

Fine. To do this, you need something that can tell you the differences between two objects. Yes, there is already a cmdlet to do that called Compare-Object. It is useful and ingenious, and works well for what is does, but it doesn’t do enough for our purposes. Let’s run through a few examples, just to explain why I need more for many of the things I do.

Read on to see where Compare-Object could be better and Phil’s solution to the problem.

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Robert Cain shows us the basics of functions in Powershell:

Like most languages, PowerShell supports the use of functions. Functions are reusable bits of code with a name wrapped around them. This lets you make multiple calls to your function name allowing you code reuse.

PowerShell actually has two types of functions, Basic and Advanced. Basic functions are a lot like the 1974 VW SuperBeetle I owned back in college. No frills but useful, gets you where you are going. Did 0 to 60 mph in under 5 minutes. Most of the time.

Advanced functions have a lot more capabilities, and are more akin to a Tesla. Lots of fancy design, can do cool things, and depending on your need might be worth the extra investment.

Robert’s post is all about those basic functions, so check it out.

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Robert Cain takes us through different structured programming constructs in Powershell:

Continuing my series on PowerShell basics, in this installment we’ll talk bout looping in PowerShell. Looping is a mechanism for repeating a set of instructions multiple times, ending once a condition is met. Looping is also known as iterating, as in “iterating over an array”.

Loops continue until one of two things happen. In one type of loop, the loop continues until a certain condition is true. In the second type, the loop will iterate over a collection (also called an array) of objects until the entire collection has been gone through.

Read on for an enumeration of the different types of loops you can create with this language.

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