PSScriptTools Overview

Abstract

This module contains a collection of functions, variables, and format files that you can use to enhance your PowerShell scripting work or get more done from a PowerShell prompt with less typing. Most of the commands are designed to work cross-platform. Please post any questions, problems, or feedback in the Issues section of this module's GitHub repository. Feedback is greatly appreciated.

The contents of this file and other documentation can be viewed using the Open-PSScriptToolsHelp command. You can also use Get-PSScriptTools to see a summary of module commands.

Please note that code samples have been formatted to fit an *80-character width.* Some example code breaks lines without using line continuation characters. I'm trusting that you can figure out how to run the example.

Table of Contents

• Installation
• General Tools
• File Tools
• Editor Integrations
• Graphical Tools
• Hashtable Tools
• Select Functions
• Time Functions
• Console Utilities
• Format Functions
• Scripting Tools
• CIM Tools
• ANSI Tools
• Other Module Features
• Related Modules
• Compatibility

Installation

You can get the current release from this repository or install this from the PowerShell Gallery:

Install-Module PSScriptTools

or in PowerShell 7:

Install-Module PSScriptTools [-scope CurrentUser] [-force]

Starting in v2.2.0, the module was restructured to better support Desktop and Core editions. However, starting with v2.13.0, the module design has reverted. All module commands will be exported. Anything that is platform-specific should be handled on a per-command basis. It is assumed you will be running this module in Windows PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7.

It is recommended to install this module from the PowerShell Gallery and not GitHub.

To remove the module from your system, you can easily uninstall it with common PowerShell commands.

Get-Module PSScriptTools | Remove-Module
Uninstall-Module PSScriptTools -AllVersions

General Tools

Get-MyCounter

Get-MyCounter is an enhanced version of the legacy Get-Counter cmdlet, which is available on Windows platforms to retrieve performance counter data. One of the challenges with using Get-Counter is how it formats results. The information may be easy to read on the screen, but it is cumbersome to use in a pipelined expression.

Get-MyCounter takes the same information and writes a custom object to the pipeline that is easier to work with. You can pipe counters from Get-Counter to Get-MyCounter.

One advantage of Get-MyCounter over Get-Counter is that the performance data is easier to work with.

Get-MyCounter '\IPv4\datagrams/sec' -MaxSamples 60 -SampleInterval 5 -computer SRV1 | Export-CSV  c:\work\srv1_ipperf.csv -NoTypeInformation

In this example, the performance counter is sampled 60 times every 5 seconds and the data is exported to a CSV file which could easily be opened in Microsoft Excel. Here's a sample of the output object.

Computername : SRV1
Category     : ipv4
Counter      : datagrams/sec
Instance     :
Value        : 66.0818918347238
Timestamp    : 11/4/2022 11:31:29 AM

Get-MyCounter writes a custom object to the pipeline which has an associated formatting file with custom views.

Get-DirectoryInfo

This command, which has an alias of dw, is designed to provide quick access to top-level directory information. The default behavior is to show the total number of files in the immediate directory. Although, the command will also capture the total file size in the immediate directory. You can use the Depth parameter to recurse through a specified number of levels. The default displays use ANSI escape sequences.

The command output will use a wide format by default. However, other wide views are available.

You can use the object in other ways.

Get-FormatView

PowerShell's formatting system includes several custom views that display objects in different ways. Unfortunately, this information is not readily available to a typical PowerShell user. This command displays the available views for a given object type.

This command has an alias of gfv.

Copy-PSFunction

This command is designed to solve the problem when you want to run a function loaded locally on a remote computer. Copy-PSFunction will copy a PowerShell function that is loaded in your current PowerShell session to a remote PowerShell session. The remote session must already be created. The copied function only exists remotely for the duration of the remote PowerShell session.

$s = New-PSSession -ComputerName win10 -cred $art
Copy-PSFunction Get-Status -Session $s

Once copied, you might use Invoke-Command to run it.

Invoke-Command { Get-Status -AsString } -session $s

If the function relies on external or additional files, you will have to copy them to the remote session separately.

Get-PSProfile

This command is designed for Windows systems and makes it easy to identify all possible PowerShell profile scripts. Including those for hosts such as VSCode or the PowerShell ISE. The command writes a custom object to the pipeline which has defined formatting. The default view is a table.

PS C:\> Get-PSProfile

   Name: PowerShell

Scope                  Path                                                                Exists
-----                  ----                                                                ------
AllUsersCurrentHost    C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1      False
AllUsersAllHosts       C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\profile.ps1                           False
CurrentUserAllHosts    C:\Users\Jeff\Documents\PowerShell\profile.ps1                      True
CurrentUserCurrentHost C:\Users\Jeff\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 True

   Name: Windows PowerShell

Scope                  Path                                                                        Exists
-----                  ----                                                                        ------
AllUsersCurrentHost    C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 True
AllUsersAllHosts       C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\profile.ps1                      True
CurrentUserAllHosts    C:\Users\Jeff\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1                       True
CurrentUserCurrentHost C:\Users\Jeff\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1  True

There is also a list view.

PS C:\> Get-PSProfile | Where-Object {$_.name -eq 'powershell'} | Format-List

   Name: PowerShell

Scope        : AllUsersCurrentHost
Path         : C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
Exists       : False
LastModified :

Scope        : AllUsersAllHosts
Path         : C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\profile.ps1
Exists       : False
LastModified :

Scope        : CurrentUserAllHosts
Path         : C:\Users\Jeff\Documents\PowerShell\profile.ps1
Exists       : True
LastModified : 9/9/2020 2:35:45 PM

Scope        : CurrentUserCurrentHost
Path         : C:\Users\Jeff\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
Exists       : True
LastModified : 9/9/2020 2:03:44 PM

Get-MyAlias

Often you might define aliases for functions and scripts you use all of the time. It may be difficult sometimes to remember them all or to find them in the default Get-Alias output. This command will list all currently defined aliases that are not part of the initial PowerShell state.

These are all aliases defined in the current session that aren't part of the initial session state. You can filter aliases to make it easier to find those that aren't defined in a module. These aliases should be ones created in your stand-alone scripts or PowerShell profile.

The PSScriptTools module also includes a custom formatting file for alias objects which you can use with Get-Alias or Get-MyAlias.

Get-Alias | Sort-Object Source | Format-Table -View source

This command has an alias of gma.

Get-ModuleCommand

This is an alternative to Get-Command to make it easier to see at a glance what commands are contained within a module and what they can do. By default, Get-ModuleCommand looks for loaded modules. Use -ListAvailable to see commands in the module not currently loaded. Note that if the help file is malformed or missing, you might get oddly formatted results.

PS C:\> Get-ModuleCommand PSCalendar -ListAvailable

   ModuleName: PSCalendar [v2.9.0]

Name                        Alias Synopsis
----                        ----- --------
Get-Calendar                cal   Displays a visual representation of a
                                  calendar.
Get-MonthName                     Get the list of month names.
Get-NCalendar               ncal  Display a Linux-style ncal calendar.
Get-PSCalendarConfiguration       Get the current PSCalendar ANSI configuration.
Set-PSCalendarConfiguration       Modify the PSCalendar ANSI configuration.
Show-Calendar               scal  Display a colorized calendar month in the
                                  console.
Show-GuiCalendar            gcal  Display a WPF-based calendar.
Show-PSCalendarHelp               Display a help PDF file for the PSCalendar
                                  module.

There are also alternate table views.

PS C:\> Get-ModuleCommand PSCalendar | Format-Table -View verb

   Verb: Get

Name                           Alias           Type        Synopsis
----                           -----           ----        --------
Get-Calendar                   cal             Function    Displays a visual
                                                           representation of a
                                                           calendar.
Get-MonthName                                  Function    Get the list of
                                                           month names.
Get-NCalendar                  ncal            Function    Display a
                                                           Linux-style ncal
                                                           calendar.
Get-PSCalendarConfiguration                    Function    Get the current
                                                           PSCalendar ANSI
                                                           configuration.

   Verb: Set

Name                           Alias           Type        Synopsis
----                           -----           ----        --------
Set-PSCalendarConfiguration                    Function    Modify the
                                                           PSCalendar ANSI
                                                           configuration.

   Verb: Show

Name                           Alias           Type        Synopsis
----                           -----           ----        --------
Show-Calendar                  scal            Function    Display a colorized
                                                           calendar month in
                                                           the console.
Show-GuiCalendar               gcal            Function    Display a WPF-based
                                                           calendar.
Show-PSCalendarHelp                            Function    Display a help PDF
                                                           file for the
                                                           PSCalendar module.

Get module commands using the default formatted view. There is also a default view for Format-List.

Get-PSScriptTools

You can use this command to get a summary list of functions in this module.

PS C:\> Get-PSScriptTools

   Verb: Add

Name             Alias                Synopsis
----             -----                --------
Add-Border                            Create a text border around a string.

   Verb: Compare

Name            Alias                Synopsis
----            -----                --------
Compare-Module  cmo                  Compare PowerShell module versions.

...

Here's another way you could use this command to list functions with defined aliases in the PSScriptTools module.

PS C:\> Get-PSScriptTools | Where-Object alias |
Select-Object Name,alias,Synopsis

Name                   Alias Synopsis
----                   ----- --------
Compare-Module         cmo   Compare PowerShell module versions.
Convert-EventLogRecord clr   Convert EventLogRecords to structured objects
ConvertFrom-Text       cft   Convert structured text to objects.
ConvertFrom-UTCTime    frut  Convert a datetime value from universal
ConvertTo-LocalTime    clt   Convert a foreign time to local
...

Convert-EventLogRecord

When you use Get-WinEvent, the results are objects you can work with in PowerShell. However, often, there is additional information that is part of the event log record, such as replacement strings, that are used to construct a message. This additional information is not readily exposed. You can use this command to convert the results of a Get-WinEvent command into a PowerShell custom object with additional information.

PS C:\> Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System';ID=7045} -MaxEvents 1|
Convert-EventLogRecord

LogName      : System
RecordType   : Information
TimeCreated  : 1/21/2020 3:49:46 PM
ID           : 7045
ServiceName  : Netwrix Account Lockout Examiner
ImagePath    : "C:\Program Files (x86)\Netwrix\Account Lockout Examiner
              \ALEService.exe"
ServiceType  : user mode service
StartType    : auto start
AccountName  : bovine320\jeff
Message      : A service was installed in the system.

               Service Name:  Netwrix Account Lockout Examiner
               Service File Name:  "C:\Program Files (x86)\Netwrix\Account
               Lockout Examiner\ALEService.exe"
               Service Type:  user mode service
               Service Start Type:  auto start
               Service Account:  bovine320\jeff
Keywords     : {Classic}
Source       : Service Control Manager
Computername : Bovine320

Get-WhoIs

This command will retrieve WhoIs information from the ARIN database for a given IPv4 address.

PS C:\> Get-WhoIs 208.67.222.222 | Select-Object -Property *

IP                     : 208.67.222.222
Name                   : OPENDNS-NET-1
RegisteredOrganization : Cisco OpenDNS, LLC
City                   : San Francisco
StartAddress           : 208.67.216.0
EndAddress             : 208.67.223.255
NetBlocks              : 208.67.216.0/21
Updated                : 3/2/2012 8:03:18 AM

PS C:\> '1.1.1.1','8.8.8.8','208.67.222.222'| Get-WhoIs | Format-List

IP                     : 1.1.1.1
Name                   : APNIC-1
RegisteredOrganization : Asia Pacific Network Information Centre
City                   : South Brisbane
StartAddress           : 1.0.0.0
EndAddress             : 1.255.255.255
NetBlocks              : 1.0.0.0/8
Updated                : 7/30/2010 9:23:43 AM

IP                     : 8.8.8.8
Name                   : LVLT-GOGL-8-8-8
RegisteredOrganization : Google LLC
City                   : Mountain View
StartAddress           : 8.8.8.0
EndAddress             : 8.8.8.255
NetBlocks              : 8.8.8.0/24
Updated                : 3/14/2014 4:52:05 PM

IP                     : 208.67.222.222
Name                   : OPENDNS-NET-1
RegisteredOrganization : Cisco OpenDNS, LLC
City                   : San Francisco
StartAddress           : 208.67.216.0
EndAddress             : 208.67.223.255
NetBlocks              : 208.67.216.0/21
Updated                : 3/2/2012 8:03:18 AM

This module includes a custom format file for these results.

Compare-Module

Use this command to compare module versions between what is installed against an online repository like the PSGallery

PS C:\> Compare-Module Platyps

Name             : platyPS
OnlineVersion    : 0.14.0
InstalledVersion : 0.14.0,0.12.0,0.11.1,0.10.2,0.9.0
PublishedDate    : 4/3/2019 12:46:30 AM
UpdateNeeded     : False

Or you can compare and manage multiple modules.

Compare-Module | Where UpdateNeeded |
Out-GridView -title "Select modules to update" -outputMode multiple |
Foreach { Update-Module $_.name }

This example compares modules and sends the results to Out-GridView. Use Out-GridView as an object picker to decide what modules to update.

Get-WindowsVersion

This is a PowerShell version of the winver.exe utility. This command uses PowerShell remoting to query the registry on a remote machine to retrieve Windows version information.

Get-WindowsVersion -Computername win10,srv1,srv2 -Credential company\artd

The output has a default table view but there are other properties you might want to use.

PS C:\> Get-WindowsVersion | Select-Object *

ProductName    : Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
ReleaseVersion : 22H2
EditionID      : Professional
ReleaseID      : 2009
Build          : 22622.598
Branch         : ni_release
InstalledUTC   : 5/12/2022 1:01:53 PM
Computername   : WINDESK11

Beginning with version 2.45.0, Get-WindowsVersion will use the command-line tool systeminfo.exe to retrieve the operating system name. If this fails, then the registry value will be used. Windows 11 systems don't yet reflect with Windows 11 name in the registry.

Get-WindowsVersionString

This command is a variation of Get-WindowsVersion that returns a formatted string with version information.

PS C:\> Get-WindowsVersionString
PROSPERO Windows 10 Pro Version Professional (OS Build 19042.906)

New-PSDriveHere

This function will create a new PSDrive at the specified location. The default is the current location, but you can specify any PSPath. by default, the function will take the last word of the path and use it as the name of the new PSDrive.

PS C:\users\jeff\documents\Enterprise Mgmt Webinar> New-PSDriveHere -SetLocation
PS Webinar:\>

You can use the first word in the leaf location or specify something completely different.

New-PSDriveHere \\ds416\backup\ Backup

Get-MyVariable

This function will return all variables not defined by PowerShell or by this function itself. The default is to return all user-created variables from the global scope, but you can also specify a scope such as script, local, or a number 0 through 5.

PS C:\> Get-MyVariable

NName Value                  Type
---- -----                  ----
a    bits                   ServiceController
dt   10/22/2020 10:49:38 AM DateTime
foo  123                    Int32
r    {1, 2, 3, 4...}        Object[]
...

Depending on the value and how PowerShell chooses to display it, you may not see the type.

ConvertFrom-Text

This command can be used to convert text from a file or a command-line tool into objects. It uses a regular expression pattern with named captures and turns the result into a custom object. You have the option of specifying a type name in case you are using custom format files.

PS C:\> $arp = '(?<IPAddress>(\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3})\s+(?<MAC>(\w{2}-){5}\w{2})\s+(?<Type>\w+$)'
PS C:\> arp -g -N 172.16.10.22 | Select-Object -skip 3 |
foreach {$_.Trim()} | ConvertFrom-Text $arp -TypeName arpData -NoProgress

IPAddress          MAC                        Type
---------          ---                        ----
172.16.10.1        b6-fb-e4-16-41-be       dynamic
172.16.10.100      00-11-32-58-7b-10       dynamic
172.16.10.115      5c-aa-fd-0c-bf-fa       dynamic
172.16.10.120      5c-1d-d9-58-81-51       dynamic
172.16.10.159      3c-e1-a1-17-6d-0a       dynamic
172.16.10.162      00-0e-58-ce-8b-b6       dynamic
172.16.10.178      00-0e-58-8c-13-ac       dynamic
172.16.10.185      d0-04-01-26-b5-61       dynamic
172.16.10.186      e8-b2-ac-95-92-98       dynamic
172.16.10.197      fc-77-74-9f-f4-2f       dynamic
172.16.10.211      14-20-5e-93-42-fb       dynamic
172.16.10.222      28-39-5e-3b-04-33       dynamic
172.16.10.226      00-0e-58-e9-49-c0       dynamic
172.16.10.227      48-88-ca-e1-a6-00       dynamic
172.16.10.239      5c-aa-fd-83-f1-a4       dynamic
172.16.255.255     ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff        static
224.0.0.2          01-00-5e-00-00-02        static
224.0.0.7          01-00-5e-00-00-07        static
224.0.0.22         01-00-5e-00-00-16        static
224.0.0.251        01-00-5e-00-00-fb        static
224.0.0.252        01-00-5e-00-00-fc        static
239.255.255.250    01-00-5e-7f-ff-fa        static

This example uses a previously created and imported format.ps1xml file for the custom type name.

Get-PSWho

This command will provide a summary of relevant information for the current user in a PowerShell Session. You might use this to troubleshoot an end-user problem running a script or command.

PS C:\> Get-PSWho

User            : WINDESK11\Art
Elevated        : True
Computername    : WINDESK11
OperatingSystem : Microsoft Windows 11 Pro [64-bit]
OSVersion       : 10.0.22622
PSVersion       : 5.1.22621.436
Edition         : Desktop
PSHost          : ConsoleHost
WSMan           : 3.0
ExecutionPolicy : RemoteSigned
Culture         : English (United States)

You can also turn this into a text block using the AsString parameter. This is helpful when you want to include the output in some type of report.

Out-VerboseTee

This command is intended to let you see your verbose output and write the verbose messages to a log file. It will only work if the verbose pipeline is enabled, usually when your command is run with -Verbose. This function is designed to be used within your scripts and functions. You either have to hard-code a file name or find some other way to define it in your function or control script. You could pass a value as a parameter or set it as a PSDefaultParameterValue.

This command has aliases Tee-Verbose and tv.

Begin {
    $log = New-RandomFilename -useTemp -extension log
    Write-Detail "Starting $($MyInvocation.MyCommand)" -Prefix begin |
    Tee-Verbose $log
    Write-Detail "Logging verbose output to $log" -prefix begin |
    Tee-Verbose -append
    Write-Detail "Initializing data array" -Prefix begin |
    Tee-Verbose $log -append
    $data = @()
} #begin

When the command is run with -Verbose you will see the verbose output and it will be saved to the specified log file.

Remove-Runspace

Throughout your PowerShell work, you may discover that some commands and scripts can leave behind runspaces such as ConvertTo-WPFGrid. You may even deliberately be creating additional runspaces. These runspaces will remain until you exit your PowerShell session. Or use this command to cleanly close and dispose of runspaces.

Get-RunSpace | where ID -gt 1 | Remove-RunSpace

Get all runspaces with an ID greater than 1, which is typically your current session, and remove the runspace.

Get-PSLocation

A simple function to get common locations. This can be useful with cross-platform scripting.

Get-PowerShellEngine

Use this command to quickly get the path to the PowerShell executable. In Windows, you should get a result like this:

PS C:\> Get-PowerShellEngine
C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe

But PowerShell on non-Windows platforms is a bit different:

PS /home/jhicks> Get-PowerShellEngine
/opt/microsoft/powershell/7/pwsh

You can also get detailed information.

Results will vary depending on whether you are running PowerShell on Windows or non-Windows systems.

Get-PathVariable

Over time, as you add and remove programs, your %PATH% might change. An application may add a location but not remove it when you uninstall the application. This command makes it easier to identify locations and whether they are still good.

PS C:\> Get-PathVariable

Scope   UserName Path                                                    Exists
-----   -------- ----                                                    ------
User    Jeff     C:\Program Files\kdiff3                                   True
User    Jeff     C:\Program Files (x86)\Bitvise SSH Client                 True
User    Jeff     C:\Program Files\OpenSSH                                  True
User    Jeff     C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFi\bin\                          True
User    Jeff     C:\Program Files\Common Files\Intel\WirelessCommon\       True
User    Jeff     C:\Users\Jeff\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Co...   True
User    Jeff     C:\Program Files (x86)\Vale\                              True
...

File Tools

Get-LastModifiedFile

Get files last modified within a certain interval. The default is 24 hours.

PS C:\> Get-LastModifiedFile -Path c:\work

    Directory: C:\work

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---          11/30/2021  1:52 PM           2010 a.txt
-a---          11/30/2021  1:52 PM           5640 b.txt

But you can specify other ranges.

PS C:\> Get-LastModifiedFile -Path c:\scripts -filter *.xml -Interval Months -IntervalCount 6

    Directory: C:\Scripts

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---           8/31/2021  7:12 PM          17580 DefaultDomainPolicy.xml
-a---           8/31/2021  7:12 PM          17290 PKIAutoEnroll.xml
-a---           8/31/2021  8:43 PM           9786 sample-gpo.xml
-a---           8/31/2021  7:24 PM          50062 TestUser.xml
-a---           6/22/2021  7:47 PM           4628 vaults.xml

You might use this command with other PowerShell commands to get usage statistics.

PS C:\> Get-LastModifiedFile -Path c:\scripts -Recurse -Interval Years -IntervalCount 1 |
>> Group-Object {$_.LastWriteTime.month} |
>> Select-Object @{Name="Month";Expression = {"{0:MMM}" -f (Get-Date -Month $_.Name)}},
>> Count

Month Count
----- -----
Jan     152
Feb     200
Mar     228
Apr     169
May     106
Jun      92
Jul      86
Aug     112
Sep     109
Oct     136
Nov     225
Dec     216

Get-FileExtensionInfo

This command will search a given directory and produce a report of all files based on their file extension. This command is only available in PowerShell 7. The extension with the largest total size will be highlighted in color.

Test-EmptyFolder

This command will test if a given folder path is empty of all files anywhere in the path. This includes hidden files. The command will return True even if there are empty sub-folders. The default output is True or False but you can use -PassThru to get more information.

PS C:\> Get-ChildItem c:\work -Directory | Test-EmptyFolder -PassThru |
Where-Object {$_.IsEmpty} |
Foreach-Object { Remove-Item -LiteralPath $_.path -Recurse -force -WhatIf}

What if: Performing the operation "Remove Directory" on target "C:\work\demo3".
What if: Performing the operation "Remove Directory" on target "C:\work\installers".
What if: Performing the operation "Remove Directory" on target "C:\work\new".
What if: Performing the operation "Remove Directory" on target "C:\work\sqlback".
What if: Performing the operation "Remove Directory" on target "C:\work\todd".
What if: Performing the operation "Remove Directory" on target "C:\work\[data]".

Find all empty sub-folders under C:\Work and pipe them to Remove-Item. This is one way to remove empty folders. The example is piping objects to ForEach-Object so that Remove-Item can use the -LiteralPath parameter because C:\work\[data] is a non-standard path.

Get-FolderSizeInfo

Use this command to quickly get the size of a folder. You also have the option to include hidden files. The command will measure all files in all subdirectories.

PS C:\> Get-FolderSizeInfo c:\work

Computername    Path                        TotalFiles     TotalSize
------------    ----                        ----------     ---------
BOVINE320       C:\work                            931     137311146

PS C:\> Get-FolderSizeInfo c:\work -Hidden

Computername    Path                         TotalFiles     TotalSize
------------    ----                         ----------     ---------
BOVINE320       C:\work                            1375     137516856

The command includes a format file with an additional view to display the total size in KB, MB, GB, or TB.

PS C:\> Get-ChildItem D:\ -Directory | Get-FolderSizeInfo -Hidden |
Where-Object TotalSize -gt 1gb | Sort-Object TotalSize -Descending |
Format-Table -View gb

Computername    Path                               TotalFiles   TotalSizeGB
------------    ----                              ----------   -----------
BOVINE320       D:\Autolab                               159      137.7192
BOVINE320       D:\VMDisks                                18      112.1814
BOVINE320       D:\ISO                                    17       41.5301
BOVINE320       D:\FileHistory                        104541       36.9938
BOVINE320       D:\Vagrant                                13       19.5664
BOVINE320       D:\Vms                                    83        5.1007
BOVINE320       D:\2016                                 1130        4.9531
BOVINE320       D:\video                                 125         2.592
BOVINE320       D:\blog                                21804        1.1347
BOVINE320       D:\pstranscripts                      122092        1.0914

Or you can use the name view.

PS C:\> Get-ChildItem c:\work -Directory | Get-FolderSizeInfo -Hidden |
Where-Object {$_.TotalSize -ge 2mb} | Format-Table -view name

   Path: C:\work

Name                    TotalFiles      TotalKB
----                    ----------      -------
A                               20    5843.9951
keepass                         15     5839.084
PowerShellBooks                 26    4240.3779
sunday                          47   24540.6523

Optimize-Text

Use this command to clean and optimize content from text files. Sometimes text files have blank lines, or the content has trailing spaces. These sorts of issues can cause problems when passing the content to other commands.

This command will strip out any lines that are blank or have nothing by white space, and trim leading and trailing spaces. The optimized text is then written back to the pipeline. Optionally, you can specify a property name. This can be useful when your text file is a list of computer names and you want to take advantage of pipeline binding.

Get-FileItem

A PowerShell version of the CLI where.exe command. You can search with a simple or regex pattern.

PS C:\> pswhere winword.exe -Path c:\ -Recurse -first

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\WINWORD.EXE

Note that you might see errors for directories where you don't have access permission. This is normal.

New-CustomFileName

This command will generate a custom file name based on a template string that you provide.

PS C:\> New-CustomFileName %computername_%day%monthname%yr-%time.log
COWPC_28Nov19-142138.log

PS C:\> New-CustomFileName %dayofweek-%####.dat
Tuesday-3128.dat

You can create a template string using any of these variables. Most of these should be self-explanatory.

• %username
• %computername
• %year - 4-digit year
• %yr - 2-digit year
• %monthname - The abbreviated month name
• %month - The month number
• %dayofweek - The full name of the weekday
• %day
• %hour
• %minute
• %time
• %string - A random string
• %guid

You can also insert a random number using % followed by a # character for each digit you want.

22 = %##
654321 = %######

New-RandomFilename

Create a new random file name. The default is a completely random name, including the extension.

PS C:\> New-RandomFilename
fykxecvh.ipw

But you can specify an extension.

PS C:\> New-RandomFilename -extension dat
emevgq3r.dat

Optionally you can create a random file name using the TEMP folder or your HOME folder. On Windows platforms, this will default to your Documents folder.

PS C:\> New-RandomFilename -extension log -UseHomeFolder
C:\Users\Jeff\Documents\kbyw4fda.log

On Linux machines, it will be the home folder.

PS /mnt/c/scripts> New-RandomFilename -home -Extension tmp
/home/jhicks/oces0epq.tmp

ConvertTo-Markdown

This command is designed to accept pipelined output and create a markdown document. The pipeline output will be formatted as a text block or a table You can optionally define a title, content to appear before the output, and content to appear after the output. You can run a command like this:

Get-Service Bits,Winrm |
ConvertTo-Markdown -title "Service Check" -PreContent "## $($env:computername)"
-PostContent "_report $(Get-Date)_"

which generates this markdown:

    # Service Check

    ## THINKX1

    ```dos

    Status   Name               DisplayName
    ------   ----               -----------
    Running  Bits               Background Intelligent Transfer Ser...
    Running  Winrm              Windows Remote Management (WS-Manag...

_report 09/25/2021 09:57:12_

You also have the option to format the output as a markdown table.

```powershell
ConvertTo-Markdown -title "OS Summary" -PreContent "## $($env:computername)" -PostContent "_Confidential_" -AsTable

Which creates this markdown output.

# OS Summary

## THINKX1-JH

| ProductName | EditionID | ReleaseID | Build | Branch | InstalledUTC | Computername |
| ----------- | --------- | --------- | ----- | ------ | ------------ | ------------ |
| Windows 10 Pro | Professional | 2009 | 22000.376 | co_release | 08/10/2021 00:17:07 | THINKX1-JH |

_Confidential_

Or you can create a list table with the property name in one column and the value in the second column.

Get-WindowsVersion | ConvertTo-Markdown -title "OS Summary" -PreContent "## $($env:computername)" -PostContent "_Confidential_" -AsList

# OS Summary

## THINKX1-JH

|    |    |
|----|----|
|ProductName|Windows 10 Pro|
|EditionID|Professional|
|ReleaseID|2009|
|Build|22000.376|
|Branch|co_release|
|InstalledUTC|8/10/2021 12:17:07 AM|
|Computername|THINKX1-JH|

_Confidential_

Because the function writes markdown to the pipeline you will need to pipe it to a command Out-File to create a file.

Editor Integrations

Because this module is intended to make scripting easier for you, it adds a few editor-specific features if you import this module in either the PowerShell ISE or Visual Studio Code. The VS Code features assume you are using the integrated PowerShell terminal.

Insert ToDo

One such feature is the ability to insert ToDo statements into PowerShell files. If you are using the PowerShell ISE or VS Code and import this module, it will add the capability to insert a line like this:

    # [12/13/2020 16:52:40] TODO: Add parameters

In the PowerShell ISE, you will get a new menu under Add-Ons.

You can use the menu or keyboard shortcut which will launch an input box.

The comment will be inserted at the current cursor location.

In VS Code, access the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and then PowerShell: Show Additional Commands from PowerShell Modules. Select Insert ToDo from the list, and you'll get the same input box. Note that this will only work for PowerShell files.

Set Terminal Location

Another feature is the ability to set your terminal location to match that of the currently active file. For example, if the current file is located in C:\Scripts\Foo and your terminal location is D:\Temp\ABC, you can quickly jump to the file location.

PS D:\Temp\ABC\> sd
PS C:\Scripts\Foo\>

The full command name is Set-LocationToFile but you'll find it easier to use the sd or jmp aliases. This command will also clear the host.

Graphical Tools

Invoke-InputBox

This function is a graphical replacement for Read-Host. It creates a simple WPF form that you can use to get user input. The value of the text box will be written to the pipeline.

$name = Invoke-InputBox -Prompt "Enter a user name" -Title "New User Setup"

You can also capture a secure string.

Invoke-InputBox -Prompt "Enter a password for $Name" -AsSecureString
 -BackgroundColor red

This example also demonstrates that you can change the form's background color. This function will not work in PowerShell Core.

New-WPFMessageBox

This function creates a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) based message box. This is intended to replace the legacy MsgBox function from VBScript and the Windows Forms library. The command uses a set of predefined button sets, each of which will close the form and write a value to the pipeline.

• OK = 1
• Cancel = 0
• Yes = $True
• No = $False

You can also create an ordered hashtable of buttons and values. It is assumed you will typically use this function in a script where you can capture the output and take some action based on the value.

New-WPFMessageBox -Message "Are you sure you want to do this?"
-Title Confirm -Icon Question -ButtonSet YesNo

You can also create your a custom button set as well as modify the background color.

New-WPFMessageBox -Message "Select a system option from these choices:"
-Title "You Decide" -Background cornsilk -Icon Warning
-CustomButtonSet ([ordered]@{"Reboot"=1;"Shutdown"=2;"Cancel"=3})

ConvertTo-WPFGrid

This command is an alternative to Out-GridView. It works much the same way. Run a PowerShell command and pipe it to this command. The output will be displayed in an auto-sized data grid. You can click on column headings to sort. You can resize columns and you can re-order columns.

Get-Eventlog -list -ComputerName DOM1,SRV1,SRV2 |
Select MachineName,Log,MaximumKilobytes,OverflowAction,
@{Name="RetentionDays";Expression={$_.MinimumRetentionDays}},
@{Name="Entries";Expression = {$_.entries.count}} |
ConvertTo-WPFGrid -Title "Event Log Report"

You can also automatically refresh the data.

Get-Process | Sort-Object WS -Descending |
Select-Object -first 20 ID,Name,WS,VM,PM,Handles,StartTime |
ConvertTo-WPFGrid -Refresh -timeout 20 -Title "Top Processes"

Note that in v2.4.0 the form layout was modified and may not be reflected in these screenshots.

Hashtable Tools

Convert-CommandToHashtable

This command is intended to convert a long PowerShell expression with named parameters into a splatting alternative.

PS C:\> Convert-CommandToHashtable -Text "get-eventlog -listlog
-computername a,b,c,d -ErrorAction stop"

$paramHash = @{
  listlog = $True
   computername = "a","b","c","d"
   ErrorAction = "stop"
}

Get-EventLog @paramHash

The idea is that you can copy the output of the command into a script file.

Convert-HashtableString

This function is similar to Import-PowerShellDataFile. But where that command can only process a file, this command will take any hashtable-formatted string and convert it into an actual hashtable.

PS C:\> Get-Content c:\work\test.psd1 | UnProtect-CMSMessage |
Convert-HashtableString

Name                           Value
----                           -----
CreatedBy                      BOVINE320\Jeff
CreatedAt                      10/02/2020 21:28:47 UTC
Computername                   Think51
Error
Completed                      True
Date                           10/02/2020 21:29:35 UTC
Scriptblock                    restart-service spooler -force
CreatedOn                      BOVINE320

The test.psd1 file is protected as a CMS Message. In this example, the contents are decoded as a string which is then in turn converted into an actual hashtable.

Convert-HashtableToCode

Use this command to convert a hashtable into its text or string equivalent.

PS C:\> $h = @{Name="SRV1";Asset=123454;Location="Omaha"}
PS C:\> Convert-HashtableToCode $h
@{
        Name = 'SRV1'
        Asset = 123454
        Location = 'Omaha'
}

Convert a hashtable object to a string equivalent that you can copy into your script.

ConvertTo-Hashtable

This command will take an object and create a hashtable based on its properties. You can have the hashtable exclude some properties as well as properties that have no value.

PS C:\> Get-Process -id $pid | Select-Object Name,Id,Handles,WorkingSet |
ConvertTo-Hashtable

Name                           Value
----                           -----
WorkingSet                     418377728
Name                           powershell_ise
Id                             3456
Handles                        958

Join-Hashtable

This command will combine two hash tables into a single hash table. Join-Hashtable will test for duplicate keys. If any of the keys from the first, or primary hashtable are found in the secondary hashtable, you will be prompted for which to keep. Or you can use -Force which will always keep the conflicting key from the first hashtable.

PS C:\> $a=@{Name="Jeff";Count=3;Color="Green"}
PS C:\> $b=@{Computer="HAL";Enabled=$True;Year=2020;Color="Red"}
PS C:\> Join-Hashtable $a $b
Duplicate key Color
A Green
B Red
Which key do you want to KEEP \[AB\]?: A

Name                           Value
----                           -----
Year                           2020
Name                           Jeff
Enabled                        True
Color                          Green
Computer                       HAL
Count                          3

Rename-Hashtable

This command allows you to rename a key in an existing hashtable or ordered dictionary object.

PS C:\> $h = Get-Service Spooler | ConvertTo-Hashtable

The hashtable in $h has a MachineName property which can be renamed.

PS C:\> Rename-Hashtable -Name h -Key MachineName -NewKey Computername
-PassThru

Name                           Value
----                           -----
ServiceType                    Win32OwnProcess, InteractiveProcess
ServiceName                    Spooler
Container
CanPauseAndContinue            False
RequiredServices               {RPCSS, http}
ServicesDependedOn             {RPCSS, http}
Computername                   .
CanStop                        True
StartType                      Automatic
Site
ServiceHandle                  SafeServiceHandle
DisplayName                    Print Spooler
CanShutdown                    False
Status                         Running
Name                           Spooler
DependentServices              {Fax}

Select Functions

The module contains several functions that simplify the use of Select-Object or Select-Object in conjunction with Where-Object. The commands are intended to make it easier to select objects in a pipelined expression. The commands include features so that you can sort the incoming objects on a given property first.

Select-First

Normally, you might run a command with Select-Object like this:

Get-Process | Select-Object -first 5 -Property WS -Descending

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K)     CPU(s)     Id  SI ProcessName
-------  ------    -----      -----     ------     --  -- -----------
    696      89   615944     426852     391.97   7352   0 sqlservr
    541      78   262532     274576     278.41   6208   8 Code
   1015      70   227824     269504     137.39  16484   8 powershell_ise
   1578     111   204852     254640      98.58  21332   8 firefox
    884      44   221872     245712     249.23  12456   8 googledrivesync

To streamline the process a bit, you can use Select-First.

Get-Process | Select-First 5 -Property WS -Descending

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K)     CPU(s)     Id  SI ProcessName
-------  ------    -----      -----     ------     --  -- -----------
    696      89   615944     426852     391.97   7352   0 sqlservr
    541      78   262532     274576     278.41   6208   8 Code
   1015      70   227824     269504     137.39  16484   8 powershell_ise
   1578     111   204852     254640      98.58  21332   8 firefox
    884      44   221872     245712     249.23  12456   8 googledrivesync

Even better, use the command alias first.

Get-Process | Sort-Object ws -Descending | first 5

Select-Last

You can perform a similar operation using Select-Last or its alias last.

Get-ChildItem -Path c:\scripts\*.ps1 | Sort-Object LastWriteTime | last 10

Select-After

Select-After is a simplified version of Select-Object. The premise is that you can pipe a collection of objects to this command and select objects after a given DateTime, based on a property, like LastWriteTime, which is the default. This command has an alias of after.

Get-ChildItem -Path c:\scripts\ -file | after 11/1/2020

    Directory: C:\Scripts

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---           11/2/2020 11:08 AM           3522 Get-ServiceWPFRunspace.ps1
-a---           11/1/2020 11:05 AM           5321 Trace.ps1
-a---           11/2/2020 11:39 AM           2321 WinFormDemo2.ps1

Or you can specify property depending on the object.

Get-Process | after (Get-Date).AddMinutes(-1) -Property StartTime

 NPM(K)    PM(M)      WS(M)     CPU(s)      Id  SI ProcessName
 ------    -----      -----     ------      --  -- -----------
     13     3.14      13.73       0.05   19156   2 notepad

This is selecting all processes that started within the last minute.

Select-Before

Select-Before is the opposite of Select-After.

Get-ChildItem -Path c:\scripts -file | before 1/1/2008

    Directory: C:\Scripts

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---           12/5/2007  2:19 PM          29618 1000MaleNames.txt
-a---            4/8/2006 10:27 AM           3779 530215.ps1
-a---            8/7/2005  1:00 AM           4286 ADUser.wsc
-a---           9/18/2006  9:27 PM           1601 allserviceinfo.ps1
...

As with Select-After, you can specify a property to use.

Get-AdUser -filter * -Properties WhenCreated |
Before 11/1/2020 -Property WhenCreated | Select-Object Name,WhenCreated

Name           WhenCreated
----           -----------
Administrator  10/26/2020 6:47:39 PM
Guest          10/26/2020 6:47:39 PM
DefaultAccount 10/26/2020 6:47:39 PM
krbtgt         10/26/2020 6:50:47 PM
MaryL          10/26/2020 6:56:24 PM
ArtD           10/26/2020 6:56:24 PM
AprilS         10/26/2020 6:56:25 PM
MikeS          10/26/2020 6:56:25 PM
...

Select-Newest

Select-Newest is designed to make it easier to select X number of objects based on a DateTime property. The default property value is LastWriteTime.

Get-ChildItem -Path d:\temp -file | newest 10

    Directory: D:\temp

Mode              LastWriteTime        Length Name
----              -------------        ------ ----
-a---        11/4/2020  5:12 PM       5149954 watcherlog.txt
-a---        11/3/2020 10:00 PM          3215 DailyIncremental_202011031000.txt
-a---        11/2/2020 10:00 PM         11152 DailyIncremental_202011021000.txt
-a---        11/2/2020  3:40 PM           852 t.ps1
-a---        11/1/2020 10:00 PM          2376 DailyIncremental_202011011000.txt
-a---       10/31/2020 10:00 PM          3150 DailyIncremental_202010311000.txt
-a---       10/30/2020 10:07 PM         17844 WeeklyFull_202010301000.txt
-a---       10/30/2020  1:00 PM        208699 datatfile-5.png
-a---       10/30/2020 12:57 PM       1264567 datatfile-4.png
-a---       10/30/2020 12:27 PM        421341 datatfile-3.png

Or specify a property.

Get-ADUser -filter * -Properties WhenCreated |
 Select-Newest 5 -Property WhenCreated |
 Select-object DistinguishedName,WhenCreated

DistinguishedName                                WhenCreated
-----------------                                -----------
CN=Marcia Brady,OU=Employees,DC=Company,DC=Pri   11/4/2020 3:15:27 PM
CN=Gladys Kravitz,OU=Employees,DC=Company,DC=Pri 11/4/2020 3:14:45 PM
CN=S.Talone,OU=Employees,DC=Company,DC=Pri       10/26/2020 3:56:31 PM
CN=A.Fieldhouse,OU=Employees,DC=Company,DC=Pri   10/26/2020 3:56:31 PM
CN=K.Moshos,OU=Employees,DC=Company,DC=Pri       10/26/2020 3:56:31 PM

Select-Oldest

Select-Oldest is the opposite of Select-Newest and works the same way.

Get-Process | newest 5 -Property StartTime

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K)     CPU(s)     Id  SI ProcessName
-------  ------    -----      -----     ------     --  -- -----------
    145       8     1692       7396       0.02   9676   0 SearchFilterHost
    344      13     2604      13340       0.02  33668   0 SearchProtocolHost
    114       7     1340       6116       0.02  35028   0 svchost
    140       8     2684       8796       0.03  32552   0 svchost
    118       8     1580       7476       0.02  35668   0 svchost

These custom Select commands are not necessarily designed for performance and there may be better ways to achieve the same results from these examples.

Time Functions

The module has a couple of date and time-related commands.

ConvertTo-UTCTime

Convert a local DateTime value to universal time. The default is to convert the current time, but you can specify a datetime value.

PS C:\> ConvertTo-UTCTime

Monday, March 4, 2019 5:51:26 PM

Convert a datetime that is UTC-5 to universal time.

ConvertFrom-UTCTime

PS C:\> ConvertFrom-UTCTime "3/4/2019 6:00PM"

Monday, March 4, 2019 1:00:00 PM

Convert a universal DateTime to the local time.

Get-MyTimeInfo

Display a group of time settings for a collection of locations. This command is a PowerShell equivalent of a world clock. It will display a DateTime value against a collection of locations. You can specify an ordered hashtable of locations and time zones. You can run a command like:

[System.TimeZoneinfo]::GetSystemTimeZones() | Out-GridView

or

Get-TimeZone -ListAvailable

To discover time zone names. Note that the ID is case-sensitive. You can then use the command like this:

PS C:\> Get-MyTimeInfo -Locations ([ordered]@{Seattle="Pacific Standard time";
"New Zealand" = "New Zealand Standard Time"}) -HomeTimeZone
"central standard time" | Select Now,Home,Seattle,'New Zealand'

Now                 Home                 Seattle              New Zealand
---                 ----                 -------              -----------
3/4/2019 1:18:36 PM 3/4/2019 12:18:36 PM 3/4/2019 10:18:36 AM 3/5/2019 7:18:36 AM

This is a handy command when traveling and your laptop is using a locally derived time and you want to see the time in other locations. It is recommended that you set a PSDefaultParameter value for the HomeTimeZone parameter in your PowerShell profile.

ConvertTo-LocalTime

It can be tricky sometimes to see a time in a foreign location and try to figure out the local time. This command attempts to simplify this process. In addition to the remote time, you need the base UTC offset for the remote location.

PS C:\> Get-TimeZone -ListAvailable | Where-Object id -match Hawaii

Id                         : Hawaiian Standard Time
DisplayName                : (UTC-10:00) Hawaii
StandardName               : Hawaiian Standard Time
DaylightName               : Hawaiian Daylight Time
BaseUtcOffset              : -10:00:00
SupportsDaylightSavingTime : False

PS C:\> ConvertTo-LocalTime "10:00AM" -10:00:00

Thursday, March 14, 2019 4:00:00 PM

In this example, the user is first determining the UTC offset for Hawaii. Then 10:00 AM, in say Honolulu, is converted to local time, which in this example is in the Eastern Time zone.

Get-TZList

This command uses a free and publicly available REST API offered by http://worldtimeapi.org to get a list of time zone areas. You can get a list of all areas or by geographic location. Use Get-TZData to then retrieve details.

PS C:\> Get-TZList Australia
Australia/Adelaide
Australia/Brisbane
Australia/Broken_Hill
Australia/Currie
Australia/Darwin
Australia/Eucla
Australia/Hobart
Australia/Lindeman
Australia/Lord_Howe
Australia/Melbourne
Australia/Perth
Australia/Sydney

Get-TZData

This command also uses the API from WorldTimeAPI.org to retrieve details about a given time zone area.

PS C:\> Get-TZData Australia/Hobart

Timezone                     Label        Offset     DST                  Time
--------                     -----        ------     ---                  ----
Australia/Hobart             AEDT       11:00:00    True  3/16/2019 3:43:14 AM

The Time value is the current time at the remote location. The command presents a formatted object but you can also get the raw data.

PS C:\> Get-TZData Australia/Hobart -Raw

week_number  : 11
utc_offset   : +11:00
unixtime     : 1552668285
timezone     : Australia/Hobart
dst_until    : 2019-04-06T16:00:00+00:00
dst_from     : 2020-10-06T16:00:00+00:00
dst          : True
day_of_year  : 75
day_of_week  : 6
datetime     : 2019-03-16T03:44:45.689655+11:00
abbreviation : AEDT

ConvertTo-LexicalTime

When working with TimeSpan objects or durations in XML files, such as those from scheduled tasks, the format is a little different than what you might expect. The specification is described at https://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-2/#duration. Use this command to convert a timespan into a lexical format you can use in an XML file where you need to specify a duration.

PS C:\> ConvertTo-LexicalTimespan (New-TimeSpan -Days 7 -hours 12)

P7DT12H

ConvertFrom-LexicalTime

Likewise, you might need to convert a lexical value back into a timespan.

PS C:\> ConvertFrom-LexicalTimeSpan P7DT12H

Days              : 7
Hours             : 12
Minutes           : 0
Seconds           : 0
Milliseconds      : 0
Ticks             : 6480000000000
TotalDays         : 7.5
TotalHours        : 180
TotalMinutes      : 10800
TotalSeconds      : 648000
TotalMilliseconds : 648000000

These functions were first described at https://jdhitsolutions.com/blog/powershell/7101/converting-lexical-timespans-with-powershell/

Console Utilities

Get-PSSessionInfo

Get-PSSessionInfo will display a summary of your current PowerShell session. It should work on all platforms.

If you are running in a PowerShell console session, and the Elevated value is True, it will be displayed in color. The Memory and Runtime values are calculated ScriptProperties.

Out-Copy

This command is intended for writers and those who need to document with PowerShell. You can pipe any command to this function, and you will get the regular output in your PowerShell session. Simultaneously, a copy of the output will be sent to the Windows clipboard. The copied output will include a prompt constructed from the current location unless you use the CommandOnly parameter.

You can run a command like:

Get-Process | Sort WS -Descending | Select-Object -first 5 | Out-Copy

This text will be copied to the clipboard.

PS C:\> Get-Process | Sort WS -Descending | Select -first 5

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K)     CPU(s)     Id  SI ProcessName
-------  ------    -----      -----     ------     --  -- -----------
   1849     253   810320     820112     445.38  17860   1 firefox
    765      61   949028     758200      23.36   6052   0 sqlservr
    446     115   441860     471032      28.59  18204   1 Teams
   2307     192   313204     459616     325.23  15748   1 firefox
   2050     163   451744     433772      94.63  19780   1 thunderbird

Out-More

This command provides a PowerShell alternative to the cmd.exe MORE command, which doesn't work in the PowerShell ISE. When you have screens of information, you can page it with this function.

Get-Service | Out-More

This also works in PowerShell 7.

Set-ConsoleTitle

Set the title bar of the current PowerShell console window.

if (Test-IsAdministrator) {
  Set-ConsoleTitle "Administrator:  $($PSVersionTable.PSVersion)"
  }

Add-Border

This command will create a character or text-based border around a line of text. You might use this to create a formatted text report or to improve the display of information on the screen.

PS C:\> Add-Border $env:computername

*******
* COW *
*******

Starting in v2.23.0 you can also use ANSI escape sequences to color the text and/or the border.

$params =@{
  TextBlock = (Get-PSWho -AsString ).trim()
  ANSIBorder = "`e[38;5;214m"
  Character = ([char]0x25CA)
  ANSIText = "`e[38;5;225m"
}
Add-Border @params

This example assumes you are running PowerShell 7.

Show-Tree

Show-Tree will display the specified path as a graphical tree in the console. This is intended as a PowerShell alternative to the DOS tree command. This function should work for any type of PowerShell provider and can be used to explore providers used for configuration like the WSMan provider or the registry. By default, the output will only show directory items or equivalent structures. But you can opt to include items as well as item details.

If you are running Windows PowerShell 5.1 and specifying a file system path, you can display the tree in a colorized format by using the -InColor dynamic parameter.

Beginning with module version 2.21.0, this command uses ANSI Color schemes from a JSON file. You can customize the file if you wish. See the PSAnsiMap section of this README. If you are using $PSStyle.FileInfo, colorization will use these values.$[ps]

This command has an alias of pstree.

PS C:\> pstree c:\work\alpha -files -properties LastWriteTime,Length

C:\work\Alpha\
+-- LastWriteTime = 02/28/2020 11:19:32
+--bravo
|  +-- LastWriteTime = 02/28/2020 11:20:30
|  +--delta
|  |  +-- LastWriteTime = 02/28/2020 11:17:35
|  |  +--FunctionDemo.ps1
|  |  |  +-- Length = 888
|  |  |  \-- LastWriteTime = 06/01/2009 15:50:47
|  |  +--function-form.ps1
|  |  |  +-- Length = 1117
|  |  |  \-- LastWriteTime = 04/17/2019 17:18:28
|  |  +--function-logstamp.ps1
|  |  |  +-- Length = 598
|  |  |  \-- LastWriteTime = 05/23/2007 11:39:55
|  |  +--FunctionNotes.ps1
|  |  |  +-- Length = 617
|  |  |  \-- LastWriteTime = 02/24/2016 08:59:03
|  |  \--Function-SwitchTest.ps1
|  |     +-- Length = 242
|  |     \-- LastWriteTime = 06/09/2008 15:55:44
|  +--gamma
...

This example uses parameter and command aliases. You can display a tree listing with files including user-specified properties. Use a value of * to show all properties.

New-RedGreenGradient

New-RedGreenGradient, which displays a bar going from red to green. This might be handy when you want to present a visual indicator.

Format Functions

The module contains a set of simple commands to make it easier to format values.

Format-Percent

Treat a value as a percentage. This will write a [double] and not include the % sign.

PS C:\> Format-Percent -Value 123.5646MB -total 1GB -Decimal 4
12.0669

Format-String

Use this command to perform one of several string manipulation "tricks".

PS C:\> Format-String "powershell" -Reverse -Case Proper
Llehsrewop
PS C:\> Format-String PowerShell -Randomize
wSlhoeePlr
PS C:\> Format-String "!MySecretPWord" -Randomize
-Replace @{S="$";e=&{Get-Random -min 1 -max 9};o="^"} -Reverse
yr7!^7WcMtr$Pd

Format-Value

This command will format a given numeric value. By default, it will treat the number as an integer. Or you can specify a certain number of decimal places. The command will also allow you to format the value in KB, MB, etc.

PS C:\> Format-Value 1235465676 -Unit kb
1206509
PS C:\> Format-Value 123.45 -AsCurrency
$123.45
PS C:\> (Get-Process | Measure-Object ws -sum).sum |
Format-Value -Unit mb | Format-Value -AsNumber
9,437

Or pull it all together:

Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem |
Select-Object @{Name = "TotalMemGB";
Expression={Format-Value $_.TotalVisibleMemorySize -Unit mb}},
@{Name="FreeMemGB";
Expression={Format-Value $_.FreePhysicalMemory -unit mb -Decimal 2}},
@{Name="PctFree";
Expression={Format-Percent -Value $_.FreePhysicalMemory `
-Total $_.totalVisibleMemorySize -Decimal 2}}

TotalMemGB FreeMemGB PctFree
---------- --------- -------
        32     14.05   44.06

Scripting Tools

Get-TypeMember

This command is an alternative to using Get-Member. Specify a type name to see a simple view of an object's members. The output will only show native members, including static methods, but not those added by PowerShell such as ScriptProperties.

The command will highlight properties that are enumerations.

The highlighting only works in the console and VSCode.

The output includes a property set type extension.

PS C:\> Get-TypeMember datetime -MemberType method | Select MethodSyntax

Name                 ReturnType      IsStatic Syntax
----                 ----------      -------- ------
Add                  System.DateTime    False $obj.Add([TimeSpan]value)
AddDays              System.DateTime    False $obj.AddDays([Double]value)
AddHours             System.DateTime    False $obj.AddHours([Double]value)
AddMilliseconds      System.DateTime    False $obj.AddMilliseconds([Double]value)
AddMinutes           System.DateTime    False $obj.AddMinutes([Double]value)
...

Or you can use the custom view.

PS C:\> Get-TypeMember datetime -MemberType method | Format-Table -View Syntax

   Type: System.DateTime

Name                 ReturnType Syntax
----                 ---------- ------
Add                  DateTime   $obj.Add([TimeSpan]value)
AddDays              DateTime   $obj.AddDays([Double]value)
AddHours             DateTime   $obj.AddHours([Double]value)
AddMilliseconds      DateTime   $obj.AddMilliseconds([Double]value)
AddMinutes           DateTime   $obj.AddMinutes([Double]value)
AddMonths            DateTime   $obj.AddMonths([Int32]months)
AddSeconds           DateTime   $obj.AddSeconds([Double]value)
AddTicks             DateTime   $obj.AddTicks([Int64]value)
AddYears             DateTime   $obj.AddYears([Int32]value)
...

New-PSDynamicParameter

This command will create the code for a dynamic parameter that you can insert into your PowerShell script file. You need to specify a parameter name and a condition. The condition value is code that would run inside an If statement. Use a value like $True if you want to add it later in your scripting editor.

PS C:\> New-PSDynamicParameter -Condition "$PSEdition -eq 'Core'" -ParameterName ANSI -Alias color -Comment "Create a parameter to use ANSI if running PowerShell 7" -ParameterType switch

    DynamicParam {
    # Create a parameter to use ANSI if running PowerShell 7
        If (Core -eq 'Core') {

        $paramDictionary = New-Object -Type System.Management.Automation.RuntimeDefinedParameterDictionary

        # Defining parameter attributes
        $attributeCollection = New-Object -Type System.Collections.ObjectModel.Collection[System.Attribute]
        $attributes = New-Object System.Management.Automation.ParameterAttribute
        $attributes.ParameterSetName = '__AllParameterSets'
        $attributeCollection.Add($attributes)

        # Adding a parameter alias
        $dynalias = New-Object System.Management.Automation.AliasAttribute -ArgumentList 'color'
        $attributeCollection.Add($dynalias)

        # Defining the runtime parameter
        $dynParam1 = New-Object -Type System.Management.Automation.RuntimeDefinedParameter('ANSI', [Switch], $attributeCollection)
        $paramDictionary.Add('ANSI', $dynParam1)

        return $paramDictionary
    } # end if
} #end DynamicParam

This creates dynamic parameter code that you can use in a PowerShell function. Normally you would save this output to a file or copy it to the clipboard so that you can paste it into your scripting editor.

You can also use a WPF-based front-end command, New-PSDynamicParameterForm. You can enter the values in the form. Required values are indicated by an asterisk.

Clicking Create will generate the dynamic parameter code and copy it to the Windows clipboard. You can then paste it into your scripting editor.

DynamicParam {

    If ($Filter -eq 'domain') {

    $paramDictionary = New-Object -Type System.Management.Automation.RuntimeDefinedParameterDictionary

    # Defining parameter attributes
    $attributeCollection = New-Object -Type System.Collections.ObjectModel.Collection[System.Attribute]
    $attributes = New-Object System.Management.Automation.ParameterAttribute
    $attributes.ParameterSetName = '__AllParameterSets'
    $attributes.ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $True

    # Adding ValidatePattern parameter validation
    $value = '^\w+-\w+$'
    $v = New-Object System.Management.Automation.ValidatePatternAttribute($value)
    $AttributeCollection.Add($v)

    # Adding ValidateNotNullOrEmpty parameter validation
    $v = New-Object System.Management.Automation.ValidateNotNullOrEmptyAttribute
    $AttributeCollection.Add($v)
    $attributeCollection.Add($attributes)

    # Adding a parameter alias
    $dynalias = New-Object System.Management.Automation.AliasAttribute -ArgumentList 'cn'
    $attributeCollection.Add($dynalias)

    # Defining the runtime parameter
    $dynParam1 = New-Object -Type System.Management.Automation.RuntimeDefinedParameter('Computername', [String], $attributeCollection)
    $paramDictionary.Add('Computername', $dynParam1)

    return $paramDictionary
} # end if
} #end DynamicParam

If you import the PSScriptTools module in the PowerShell ISE, you will get a menu shortcut under Add-Ins.

If you import the module in VS Code using the integrated PowerShell terminal, it will a new command. In the command palette, use `PowerShell: Show Additional Commands from PowerShell Modules".

Get-PSUnique

For the most part, objects you work with in PowerShell are guaranteed to be unique. But you might import data where there is the possibility of duplicate items. Consider this CSV sample.

$Obj = "Animal,Snack,Color
Horse,Quiche,Chartreuse
Cat,Doritos,Red
Cat,Pringles,Yellow
Dog,Doritos,Yellow
Dog,Doritos,Yellow
Rabbit,Pretzels,Green
Rabbit,Popcorn,Green
Marmoset,Cheeseburgers,Black
Dog,Doritos,White
Dog,Doritos,White
Dog,Doritos,White
" | ConvertFrom-Csv

There are duplicate objects you might want to filter out. For that task, you can use Get-PSUnique.

PS C:\> $obj | Get-PSUnique | Sort-Object animal

Animal   Snack         Color
------   -----         -----
Cat      Pringles      Yellow
Cat      Doritos       Red
Dog      Doritos       White
Dog      Doritos       Yellow
Horse    Quiche        Chartreuse
Marmoset Cheeseburgers Black
Rabbit   Popcorn       Green
Rabbit   Pretzels      Green

The duplicate items have been removed. This command works best with simple objects. If your objects have nested object properties, you will need to test if this command can properly filter for unique items. For more complex objects, you should use the Property parameter.

Test-IsElevated

This simple command will test if the current PowerShell session is running elevated, or as Administrator. On Windows platforms, the function uses the .NET Framework to test. On non-Windows platforms, the command tests the user's UID value.

PS C:\> Test-IsElevated
False

You can also use the Get-PSWho command to get more information.

New-FunctionItem

{Get-Date -format g | Set-Clipboard} | New-FunctionItem -name Copy-Date

The script block has been converted into a function.

PS C:\> get-command copy-date

CommandType     Name                        Version    Source
-----------     ----                        -------    ------
Function        Copy-Date

You can use this function to create a quick function definition directly from the console. This lets you quickly prototype a function. If you are happy with it, you can "export" to a file with Show-FunctionItem.

Show-FunctionItem

This command will display a loaded function as it might look in a code editor. You could use this command to export a loaded function to a file.

Show-FunctionItem Copy-Date | Out-File c:\scripts\Copy-Date.ps1

ConvertTo-TitleCase

This is a simple command that uses [System.Globalization.CultureInfo] to convert a string to Title casing.

PS C:\> ConvertTo-TitleCase "disk usage report"
Disk Usage Report

Trace-Message

Trace-Message is designed to be used with your script or function on a Windows platform. Its purpose is to create a graphical trace window using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). Inside the function or script, you can use this command to send messages to the window. When finished, you have the option to save the output to a text file.

There are three steps to using this function. First, in your code, you need to create a boolean global variable called TraceEnabled. When the value is $True, the Trace-Message command will run. When set to false, the command will be ignored. Second, you need to initialize a form, specifying the title and dimensions. Finally, you can send trace messages to the window. All messages are prepended with a timestamp.

Here is a code excerpt from $PSSamplePath\Get-Status.ps1:

Function Get-Status {

    [cmdletbinding(DefaultParameterSetName = 'name')]
    [alias("gst")]
    Param(
        ...
        [Parameter(HelpMessage="Enable with graphical trace window")]
        [switch]$Trace
    )

    Begin {
        Write-Verbose "[$((Get-Date).TimeOfDay) BEGIN  ] Starting $($MyInvocation.MyCommand)"
        if ($trace) {
            $global:TraceEnabled = $True
            $traceTitle = "{0} Trace Log" -f $($MyInvocation.MyCommand)
            Trace-Message -title $traceTitle
            Trace "Starting $($MyInvocation.MyCommand)"
        }
    } #begin
      Process {
        Write-Verbose "[$((Get-Date).TimeOfDay) PROCESS] Using parameter set $($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName)"
        Trace-Message -message "Using parameter set: $($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName)"
    ...
      } #close function
    $data = Get-Status -trace

The trace window starts with pre-defined metadata.

Your output might vary from this screenshot. You have the option to Save the text. The default location is $env:temp.

Get-CommandSyntax

Some PowerShell commands are provider-aware and may have special syntax or parameters depending on what PSDrive you are using when you run the command. In Windows PowerShell, the help system could show you syntax based on a given path. However, this no longer appears to work. Get-CommandSyntax is intended as an alternative and should work in both Windows PowerShell and PowerShell 7.

Specify a cmdlet or function name, and the output will display the syntax detected when using different providers.

Get-CommandSyntax -Name Get-Item

Dynamic parameters will be highlighted with an ANSI-escape sequence.

This command has an alias of gsyn.

Test-Expression

The primary command can be used to test a PowerShell expression or script block for a specified number of times and calculate the average runtime, in milliseconds, over all the tests.

Why

When you run a single test with Measure-Command the result might be affected by any number of factors. Likewise, running multiple tests may also be influenced by things such as caching. The goal of this module is to provide a test framework where you can run a test repeatedly with either a static or random interval between each test. The results are aggregated and analyzed. Hopefully, this will provide a more meaningful or realistic result.

Examples

The output will also show the median and trimmed values, as well as some metadata about the current PowerShell session.

PS C:\> $cred = Get-credential Globomantics\administrator
PS C:\> Test-Expression {
  param($cred)
  Get-WmiObject win32_LogicalDisk -computer chi-dc01 -credential $cred
  } -argumentList $cred

Tests        : 1
TestInterval : 0.5
AverageMS    : 1990.6779
MinimumMS    : 1990.6779
MaximumMS    : 1990.6779
MedianMS     : 1990.6779
TrimmedMS    :
PSVersion    :5.1.17763.134
OS           : Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

You can also run multiple tests with random time intervals.

PS C:\>Test-Expression {
  param([string[]]$Names)
  Get-Service $names
  } -count 5 -IncludeExpression -ArgumentList @('bits','wuauserv','winrm') `
  -RandomMinimum .5 -RandomMaximum 5.5

Tests        : 5
TestInterval : Random
AverageMS    : 1.91406
MinimumMS    : 0.4657
MaximumMS    : 7.5746
MedianMS     : 0.4806
TrimmedMS    : 0.51
PSVersion    : 5.1.17763.134
OS           : Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Expression   : param([string[]]$Names) Get-Service $names
Arguments    : {bits, wuauserv, winrm}

For very long-running tests, you can run them as a background job.

Graphical Testing

The module also includes a graphical command called Test-ExpressionForm. This is intended to serve as both an entry and results form.

When you quit the form the last result will be written to the pipeline including all metadata, the scriptblock, and any arguments.

Copy-HelpExample

This command is designed to make it (slightly) easier to copy code snippets from help examples. Specify the name of a function or cmdlet, presumably one with documented help examples, and you will be offered a selection of code snippets to copy to the clipboard. Code snippets have been trimmed of blank lines, most prompts, and comments. Many examples include command output. You will have to manually remove what you don't want after pasting.

The default behavior is to use a console-based menu, which works cross-platform.

Enter the number of the code to copy to the clipboard. Enter multiple numbers separated by commas.

If you are running a Windows platform, there is a dynamic help parameter to use Out-GridView.

Copy-HelpExample Stop-Service -UseGridView

If you are running this in the PowerShell ISE this is the default behavior, even if you don't specify the parameter.

Get-GitSize

Use this command to determine how much space the hidden .git folder is consuming.

PS C:\scripts\PSScriptTools> Get-GitSize

Path                                          Files          SizeKB
----                                          -----          ------
C:\scripts\PSScriptTools                        751       6859.9834

This is the default formatted view. The object has other properties you can use.

Name         : PSScriptTools
Path         : C:\scripts\PSScriptTools
Files        : 751
Size         : 7024623
Date         : 3/5/2020 2:57:06 PM
Computername : BOVINE320

Remove-MergedBranch

When using git you may create some branches. Presumably, you merge these branches into the main or master branch. You can use this command to remove all merged branches other than master or main, and the current branch. You must be at the root of your project to run this command.

PS C:\MyProject> Remove-MergedBranch

Remove merged branch from MyProject?
2.1.1
[Y] Yes  [N] No  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"): n

Remove merged branch from MyProject?
dev1
[Y] Yes  [N] No  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"): y
Deleted branch dev1 (was 75f6ab8).

Remove merged branch from MyProject?
dev2
[Y] Yes  [N] No  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"): y
Deleted branch dev2 (was 75f6ab8).

Remove merged branch from MyProject?
patch-254
[Y] Yes  [N] No  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"): n

PS C:\MyProject>

By default, you will be prompted to remove each branch.

Test-WithCulture

When writing PowerShell commands, sometimes the culture you are running under becomes critical. For example, European countries use a different DateTime format than North Americans, which might present a problem with your script or command. Unless you have a separate computer running under a foreign culture, it is difficult to test. This command will allow you to test a script block or even a file under a different culture, such as DE-DE for German.

PS C:\> Test-WithCulture fr-fr -Scriptblock {
    Get-winEvent -log system -max 500 |
    Select-Object -Property TimeCreated,ID,OpCodeDisplayName,Message |
    Sort-Object -property TimeCreated |
    Group-Object {$_.TimeCreated.ToShortDateString()} -NoElement}

Count Name
----- ----
  165 10/07/2019
  249 11/07/2019
   17 12/07/2019
   16 13/07/2019
   20 14/07/2019
   26 15/07/2019
    7 16/07/2019

Copy-Command

This command will copy a PowerShell command, including parameters and help to a new user-specified command. You can use this to create a "wrapper" function or to easily create a proxy function. The default behavior is to create a copy of the command complete with the original comment-based help block.

Get-ParameterInfo

Using Get-Command, this function will return information about parameters for any loaded cmdlet or function. Common parameters like Verbose and ErrorAction are omitted. Get-ParameterInfo returns a custom object with the most useful information an administrator might need to know. The custom object includes default format views for a list and table.

New-PSFormatXML

When defining custom objects with a new type name, PowerShell by default will display all properties. However, you may wish to have a specific default view, be it a table or a list. Or you may want to have different views display the object differently. Format directives are stored in format.ps1xml files which can be tedious to create. This command simplifies that process.

Define a custom object:

$tName = "myThing"
$obj = [PSCustomObject]@{
  PSTypeName   = $tName
  Name         = "Jeff"
  Date         = (Get-Date)
  Computername = $env:computername
  OS           = (Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem).caption
}
$upParams = @{
  TypeName = $tName
  MemberType = "ScriptProperty"
  MemberName = "Runtime"
  value =  {(Get-Date) - [datetime]"1/1/2019"}
  force = $True
}
Update-TypeData @upParams

The custom object looks like this by default:

PS C:\> $obj

Name         : Jeff
Date         : 2/10/2019 8:49:10 PM
Computername : BOVINE320
OS           : Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Runtime      : 40.20:49:43.9205882

Now you can create new formatting directives.

$tName = "myThing"
$params = @{
  Properties = "Name","Date","Computername","OS"
  FormatType = "Table"
  Path = "C:\scripts\$tName.format.ps1xml"
}
$obj | New-PSFormatXML @params

$params.Properties= "Name","OS","Runtime"
$params.Add("ViewName","runtime")
$params.Add(Append,$True)
$obj | New-PSFormatXML  @params

$params.formatType = "list"
$params.remove("Properties")
$obj | New-PSFormatXML @params

Update-FormatData -AppendPath $params.path

And, here is what the object looks like now:

PS C:\> $obj

Name Date                 Computername Operating System
---- ----                 ------------ ----------------
Jeff 2/10/2019 8:49:10 PM BOVINE320    Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

PS C:\> $obj | Format-Table -View runtime

Name OS Runtime
---- -- -------
Jeff    40.20:56:24.5411481

PS C:\> $obj | Format-List

Name            : Jeff
Date            : Sunday, February 10, 2019
Computername    : BOVINE320
OperatingSystem : Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Runtime         : 40.21:12:01

Starting with v2.31.0, you can also use a hashtable to define custom properties from script blocks.

 $p = @{
    FormatType = "List"
    ViewName = "run"
    Path  = "c:\scripts\run.ps1xml"
    Properties = "ID","Name","Path","StartTime",
    @{Name="Runtime";Expression={(Get-Date) - $_.StartTime}}
 }
 Get-Process -id $pid | New-PSFormatXML @p

If you run this command from Visual Studio Code and specify -PassThru, the resulting file will be opened in your editor.

Test-IsPSWindows

PowerShell 7 introduced the $IsWindows variable. However, it is not available on Windows PowerShell. Use this command to perform a simple test if the computer is either running Windows or using the Desktop PSEdition. The command returns True or False.

Write-Detail

This command is designed to be used within your functions and scripts to make it easier to write a detailed message that you can use as verbose output. The assumption is that you are using an advanced function with the Begin, Process, and End script blocks. You can create a detailed message to indicate what part of the code is being executed. The output can be configured to include a DateTime stamp or just the time.

PS C:\> write-detail "Getting file information" -Prefix Process -Date
9/15/2020 11:42:43 [PROCESS] Getting file information

In a script. you might use it like this:

Begin {
    Write-Detail "Starting $($MyInvocation.MyCommand)" -Prefix begin -time |
    Write-Verbose
    $tabs = "`t" * $tab
    Write-Detail "Using a tab of $tab" -Prefix BEGIN -time | Write-Verbose
} #begin

Save-GitSetup

This command is intended for Windows users to easily download the latest 64-bit version of Git.

PS C:\> Save-GitSetup -Path c:\work -PassThru

    Directory: C:\work

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---           1/23/2020  4:31 PM       46476880 Git-2.25.0-64-bit.exe

You will need to manually install the file. Or you can try something like this:

Save-GitSetup -Path c:\work -PassThru | Invoke-Item

CIM Tools

The module includes a set of commands to work with CIM and are alternatives to Get-CimClass. The information from Get-CimClass is helpful, but you often need to take steps to format the results to be something meaningful. These commands aim to simplify the process.

Many of these commands have autocompletion features for the Namespace and ClassName parameters. Note that even though you can query a remote computer, the tab completion uses values from the local computer.

Find-CimClass

This function is designed to search an entire CIM repository for a class name. Sometimes, you may guess a class name but not know the full name or even the correct namespace. Find-CimClass will recursively search for a given class name. You can use wildcards and search remote computers.

Get-CimNamespace

You can use this command to enumerate all WMI/CIM namespaces on a computer starting from ROOT. The default behavior is to recursively enumerate on the local machine, but you can query a remote computer. If you need to support alternate credentials, create a CIMSession and pass it to the command.

PS C:\> Get-CimNamespace
Root\subscription
Root\subscription\ms_41d
Root\subscription\ms_409
Root\DEFAULT
Root\DEFAULT\ms_41d
Root\DEFAULT\ms_409
Root\CIMV2
Root\CIMV2\mdm
...

You can limit the search to top-level namespaces.

PS C:\> Get-CimNamespace -TopLevelOnly -CimSession DOM1
Root\subscription
Root\DEFAULT
Root\MicrosoftDfs
Root\CIMV2
Root\msdtc
Root\Cli
Root\MicrosoftActiveDirectory
Root\SECURITY
Root\RSOP
Root\MicrosoftDNS
Root\PEH
...

Get-CimClassList

Sometimes Get-CimClass is overkill when all you want is a list of class names under a given namespace. Get-CimClassList is designed to quickly give you a list of class names. You can filter by name and exclude.

PS C:\> Get-CimClassListing *usb*  -Exclude cim*

   Namespace: Root/Cimv2

ClassName
---------
Win32_USBController
Win32_USBControllerDevice
Win32_USBHub

Get-CimClassProperty

Use this command to quickly get a list of class properties.

PS C:\> Get-CimClassProperty win32_usbhub

   Class: Root/Cimv2:Win32_USBHub

Property                    ValueType   Flags
--------                    ---------   -----
Availability                UInt16      ReadOnly, NullValue
Caption                     String      ReadOnly, NullValue
ClassCode                   UInt8       NullValue
ConfigManagerErrorCode      UInt32      ReadOnly, NullValue
ConfigManagerUserConfig     Boolean     ReadOnly, NullValue
CreationClassName           String      ReadOnly, NullValue
CurrentAlternateSettings    UInt8Array  NullValue
CurrentConfigValue          UInt8       NullValue
Description                 String      ReadOnly, NullValue
DeviceID                    String      Key, ReadOnly, NullValue
ErrorCleared                Boolean     ReadOnly, NullValue
ErrorDescription            String      ReadOnly, NullValue
GangSwitched                Boolean     NullValue
InstallDate                 DateTime    ReadOnly, NullValue
...

Key properties will be highlighted in green.

Or you can limit output specifying a property name.

PS C:\> Get-CimClassProperty Win32_OperatingSystem -Property *memory*

   Class: Root/Cimv2:Win32_OperatingSystem

Property               ValueType Flags
--------               --------- -----
FreePhysicalMemory     UInt64    ReadOnly, NullValue
FreeVirtualMemory      UInt64    ReadOnly, NullValue
MaxProcessMemorySize   UInt64    ReadOnly, NullValue
TotalVirtualMemorySize UInt64    ReadOnly, NullValue
TotalVisibleMemorySize UInt64    ReadOnly, NullValue

Get-CimClassMethod

You can likewise query for class methods.

PS C:\> Get-CimClassMethod Win32_ComputerSystem

   Class: Root/Cimv2:Win32_ComputerSystem

Name                    ResultType Parameters
----                    ---------- ----------
JoinDomainOrWorkgroup   UInt32     {Name, Password, UserName, AccountOU…}
Rename                  UInt32     {Name, Password, UserName}
SetPowerState           UInt32     {PowerState, Time}
UnjoinDomainOrWorkgroup UInt32     {Password, UserName, FUnjoinOptions}

Get-CimMember

This is a wrapper function that will invoke Get-CimClassProperty or Get-CimClassMethod based on the parameter set used. The default is to show all properties for a given class.

PS C:\> Get-CimMember -ClassName win32_bios -Method *
WARNING: No methods found for Root\Cimv2:WIN32_BIOS
PS C:\> Get-CimMember -ClassName win32_Volume -Property q*

       Class: Root/Cimv2:Win32_Volume

    Property         ValueType Flags
    --------         --------- -----
    QuotasEnabled    Boolean   ReadOnly, NullValue
    QuotasIncomplete Boolean   ReadOnly, NullValue
    QuotasRebuilding Boolean   ReadOnly, NullValue

Get-CimClassPropertyQualifier

This command is an alternative to Get-CimClass to make it easier to get information about property qualifiers of a WMI/CIM class.

PS C:\> Get-CimClassPropertyQualifier -ClassName Win32_Service -Property Name

   Property: Root/Cimv2:Win32_Service [Name]

Name Value CimType Flags
---- ----- ------- -----
key  True  Boolean DisableOverride, ToSubclass
read True  Boolean EnableOverride, ToSubclass

ANSI Tools

Note: ANSI tools related to the filesystem are not loaded on computers where PSStyle is detected.

This module includes several custom format files for common objects like services. You can run Get-Service and pipe it to the custom table view.

Get-Service | Format-Table -view ansi

This will display the service status color-coded.

ANSI formatting will only work in a PowerShell 5.1 console window or VS Code. It will not display properly in the PowerShell ISE or older versions of PowerShell.

PSAnsiMap

I have done something similar for output from Get-ChildItem. The module includes a JSON file that is exported as a global variable called PSAnsiFileMap.

PS C:\> $PSAnsiFileMap

Description    Pattern                                Ansi
-----------    -------                                ----
PowerShell     \.ps(d|m)?1$
Text           \.(txt)|(md)|(log)$
DataFile       \.(json)|(xml)|(csv)$
Executable     \.(exe)|(bat)|(cmd)|(sh)$
Graphics       \.(jpg)|(png)|(gif)|(bmp)|(jpeg)$
Media          \.(mp3)|(m4v)|(wav)|(au)|(flac)|(mp4)$
Archive        \.(zip)|(rar)|(tar)|(gzip)$
TopContainer
ChildContainer

The map includes ANSI settings for different file types. You won't see the ANSI value in the output. The module will add a custom table view called ansi which you can use to display colorized file results.

The mapping file is user-customizable. Copy the psansifilemap.json file from the module's root directory to $HOME. When you import this module, if the file is found, it will be imported and used as psansifilemap, otherwise, the module's file will be used.

The file will look like this:

[
  {
    "Description": "PowerShell",
    "Pattern": "\\.ps(d|m)?1$",
    "Ansi": "\u001b[38;2;252;127;12m"
  },
  {
    "Description": "Text",
    "Pattern": "\\.(txt)|(md)|(log)$",
    "Ansi": "\u001b[38;2;58;120;255m"
  },
  {
    "Description": "DataFile",
    "Pattern": "\\.(json)|(xml)|(csv)$",
    "Ansi": "\u001b[38;2;249;241;165m"
  },
  {
    "Description": "Executable",
    "Pattern": "\\.(exe)|(bat)|(cmd)|(sh)$",
    "Ansi": "\u001b[38;2;197;15;31m"
  },
  {
    "Description": "Graphics",
    "Pattern": "\\.(jpg)|(png)|(gif)|(bmp)|(jpeg)$",
    "Ansi": "\u001b[38;2;255;0;255m"
  },
  {
    "Description": "Media",
    "Pattern": "\\.(mp3)|(m4v)|(wav)|(au)|(flac)|(mp4)$",
    "Ansi": "\u001b[38;2;255;199;6m"
  },
  {
    "Description": "Archive",
    "Pattern": "\\.(zip)|(rar)|(tar)|(gzip)$",
    "Ansi": "\u001b[38;2;118;38;113m"
  },
  {
    "Description": "TopContainer",
    "Pattern": "",
    "Ansi": "\u001b[38;2;0;255;255m"
  },
  {
    "Description": "ChildContainer",
    "Pattern": "",
    "Ansi": "\u001b[38;2;255;255;0m"
  }
]

You can create or modify file groups. The Pattern value should be a regular expression pattern to match the filename. Don't forget you will need to escape characters for the JSON format. The ANSI value will be an ANSI escape sequence. You can use \u001b for the `e character.

If you prefer not to edit JSON files, you can use the PSAnsiFileMap commands from this module.

Get-PSAnsiFileMap

This command will display the value of the $PSAnsiFileMap variable, but will also show the ANSI sequence using the sequence itself.

Set-PSAnsiFileMap

Use this command to modify an existing entry. You need to specify a regular expression pattern to match the filename and/or an ANSI escape sequence. If the entry description doesn't exist, you will need to specify the regex pattern and the ANSI sequence to add the entry to $PSAnsiFileMap.

Set-PSAnsiFileMap Archive -Ansi "`e[38;5;75m"

Remove-PSAnsiFileEntry

If you need to, you can remove an entry from $PSAnsiFileMap.

Remove-PSAnsiFileEntry DevFiles

Export-PSAnsiFileMap

Any changes you make to $PSAnsiFileMap will only last until you import the module again. To make the change permanent, use Export-PSAnsiFileMap. This will create the psansifilemap.json file in your $HOME directory. When you import the PSScriptTools module, if this file is found, it will be imported. Otherwise, the default version from the module will be used.

Convert-HtmlToAnsi

This simple function is designed to convert an HTML color code like #ff5733 into an ANSI escape sequence.

PS C:\> Convert-HtmlToAnsi "#ff5733"
[38;2;255;87;51m

To use the resulting value you still need to construct an ANSI string with the escape character and the closing [0m.

In PowerShell 7 you can use `e. Or $([char]27) which works in all PowerShell versions.

New-ANSIBar

You can use this command to create colorful bars using ANSI escape sequences based on a 256-color scheme. The default behavior is to create a gradient bar that goes from first to last values in the range and then back down again. Or you can create a single gradient that runs from the beginning of the range to the end. You can use one of the default characters or specify a custom one.

Write-ANSIProgress

You could also use Write-ANSIProgress to show a custom ANSI bar.

Or you can use it in your code to display a console progress bar.

$sb = {
  Clear-Host
  $top = Get-ChildItem c:\scripts -Directory
  $i = 0
  $out=@()
  $pos = $host.UI.RawUI.CursorPosition
  Foreach ($item in $top) {
      $i++
      $pct = [math]::round($i/$top.count,2)
      Write-ANSIProgress -PercentComplete $pct -position $pos
      Write-Host "  Processing $(($item.FullName).PadRight(80))"
      -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
      $out+= Get-ChildItem -Path $item -Recurse -file |
      Measure-Object -property length -sum |
      Select-Object @{Name="Path";Expression={$item.FullName}},Count,
      @{Name="Size";Expression={$_.Sum}}
  }
  Write-Host ""
  $out | Sort-Object -property Size -Descending
    }

Show-ANSISequence

You can use Show-ANSISequence to preview how it will look in your PowerShell session. You might get a different appearance in Windows Terminal depending on the color scheme you are using.

The default behavior is to show basic sequences.

You can also view foreground and or background settings.

You can even use an RGB value.

The escape character will match what is acceptable in your version of PowerShell. These screenshots are showing PowerShell 7.

Other Module Features

These are additional items in the module that you might find useful in your PowerShell work.

Custom Format Views

The module includes several custom format.ps1xml files that define additional views for common objects. Some of these have already been demonstrated elsewhere in this document.

For example, there is a custom table view for Aliases.

PS C:\> Get-Alias | Sort-Object Source | Format-Table -view Source

   Source:

Name                 Definition
----                 ----------
nmo                  New-Module
ni                   New-Item
npssc                New-PSSessionConfigurationFile
nv                   New-Variable
nsn                  New-PSSession
...

   Source: Microsoft.PowerShell.Management 3.1.0.0

Name                 Definition
----                 ----------
gtz                  Get-TimeZone
stz                  Set-TimeZone
...

   Source: Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility 3.1.0.0

Name                 Definition
----                 ----------
fhx                  Format-Hex
CFS                  ConvertFrom-String

   Source: PSScriptTools 2.31.0

Name                 Definition
----                 ----------
clr                  Convert-EventLogRecord
gsi                  Get-FolderSizeInfo
wver                 Get-WindowsVersion
gpi                  Get-ParameterInfo
che                  Copy-HelpExample
...

Some custom formats use ANSI to highlight information, assuming you are running in PowerShell Console Host.

In this format view, ReadOnly aliases are displayed in Red.

Use Get-FormatView to discover available format views. Or if you'd like to create custom views look at New-PSFormatXML

Custom Type Extensions

When you import the module, you will also import customized type extensions. These are designed to make it easier to work with common objects in PowerShell.

System.IO.FileInfo

The module will extend file objects with the following alias properties:

New Alias	Property
Size	Length
Created	CreationTime
Modified	LastWriteTime

You also have new script properties

Script Property	Description
ModifiedAge	A timespan between the current date the and last write time
CreatedAge	A timespan between the current date the and creation time
SizeKB	The file size formatted in KB to 2 decimal places
SizeMB	The file size formatted in MB to 2 decimal places

PS C:\> Get-ChildItem C:\work\pswork.xml | Select-Object Name,Size,SizeKB,SizeMB,Created,CreatedAge,Modified,ModifiedAge

Name        : pswork.xml
Size        : 32072432
SizeKB      : 31320.73
SizeMB      : 30.59
Created     : 1/5/2021 6:46:43 PM
CreatedAge  : 175.17:47:00.4966770
Modified    : 1/6/2021 11:53:20 AM
ModifiedAge : 175.00:40:23.3527674

System.Diagnostics.Process

The module will extend process objects with a Runtime script property.

PS C:\> Get-Process | Sort-Object runtime -Descending |
Select-Object -first 5 -Property ID,Name,Runtime

 Id Name          Runtime
 -- ----          -------
120 Secure System 20:44:51.6139043
204 Registry      20:44:51.3661961
  4 System        20:44:48.2820565
704 smss          20:44:48.2726401
820 csrss         20:44:44.7760844

The Idle process will have a null value for this property.

PSSpecialChar

A number of the commands in this module can use special characters. To make it easier, when you import the module, it will create a global variable that is a hash table of common special characters. Because it is a hashtable, you can add to it.

The names are the same as used in CharMap.exe. Don't let the naming confuse you. It may say BlackSquare, but the color will depend on how you use it.

Get-WindowsVersionString |
Add-Border -border $PSSpecialChar.BlackSmallSquare `
-ANSIBorder "$([char]0x1b)[38;5;214m"

Sample Scripts

This PowerShell module contains several functions you might use to enhance your functions and scripts. The Samples folder contains demonstration script files. You can access the folder in PowerShell using the $PSSamplePath.

dir $PSSamplePath

The samples provide suggestions on how you might use some of the commands in this module. The scripts are offered AS-IS and are for demonstration purposes only.

Open-PSScriptToolsHelp

I've created a PDF version of this document which I thought you might find useful since it includes screenshots and sample output rendered nicer than what you can get in PowerShell help. Run Open-PSScriptToolsHelp to open the PDF using the default associated application.

Deprecated Commands

The following commands have been removed as of v2.50.0.

• Set-ConsoleColor
• Out-ConditionalColor

Related Modules

If you find this module useful, you might also want to look at my PowerShell tools for:

• Keeping up to date with PowerShell 7 releases
• Module and Project Status
• Creating and managing customized type extensions
• Managing scheduled jobs
• Automating the PowerShell scripting process
• A simple command-line task and to-do manager

Compatibility

Where possible, module commands have been tested with PowerShell 7, but not on every platform. If you encounter problems, have suggestions, or have other feedback, please post an issue. It is assumed you will not be running these commands on any edition of PowerShell Core, i.e. PowerShell 6.