PowerShell Team

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Variable expansion in strings and here-strings

July 15, 2006 Jul 15, 2006 07/15/06
PowerShell Team
PSMDTAG:FAQ: What is the difference between single quoted and double quoted strings?  ANSWER:  Double quoted string expand variables and single quoted strings do not. Example: PS> $x="TEST"PS> "This is a $x"This is a TESTPS> 'This is a $x'This is a $x   PSMDTAG:FAQ: How do variables expand in strings? PSMDTAG:FAQ: Why ...

Cascading Type Casts

July 15, 2006 Jul 15, 2006 07/15/06
PowerShell Team
A user on the newsgroup wondered whether the example below highlighted a bug or a feature.  They applied multiple type declarations on a single parameter and Windows PowerShell did not complain. function check {   param([string] [int] $y = 0, $x = 0)###^^^^^^^^^^^^  $x.GetType().ToString();  $y.GetType().ToString();  $...

HanselMinutes Podcast on Advanced Windows PowerShell

July 12, 2006 Jul 12, 2006 07/12/06
PowerShell Team
Check out Scott Hanselman's podcast on Advanced Windows PowerShell at: http://hanselminutes.com/default.aspx?showID=33 Scott really "gets" PowerShell and has a fantastic way of communicating it.  With V1.0, Windows PowerShell delivers a VERY powerful engine but it gets presented to the world through a command ...

Indirectly Invoking Methods Via Variablenames

July 12, 2006 Jul 12, 2006 07/12/06
PowerShell Team
PSMDTAG:FAQ: Can I specify a methodname using a variable? e.g. $x.$y() PSMDTAG:FAQ: Why do I get METHOD metadata when I specify a method without providing parentheses? One of the great things about Windows PowerShell is that it is a latebound language which allows you to do all sorts of incredibly powerful operations.  Consider the ...

Type Shortcuts

July 12, 2006 Jul 12, 2006 07/12/06
PowerShell Team
PSMDTAG:FAQ: What is a TYPE SHORTCUT?PSMDTAG:FAQ: What are the TYPE SHORTCUTS?   Type shortcuts are a Windows PowerShell feature that allows you to reduce the amount of typing you have to do when specifying a type.    For example, the following 2 statements produce the same result: [System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex]"^c.*" [...

Are ScriptBlock parameters implemented for functions?

July 7, 2006 Jul 7, 2006 07/7/06
PowerShell Team
PSMDTAG:FAQ: Are ScriptBlock parameters implemented for functions? Not in V1.  Functions do not use the same parameter binding mechanism as Cmdlets.  This is something we intent to address in a future release.  -- Jeffrey Snover [MSFT]Windows PowerShell ArchitectMicrosoft CorporationThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no ...

How can a script tell what directory it was run from?

July 6, 2006 Jul 6, 2006 07/6/06
PowerShell Team
PSMDTAG:FAQ: How can a script determine what directory it was invoked from?PSMDTAG:FAQ: What is $MyInvocation?PSMDTAG:FAQ: Why is $MyInvocation.ScriptName empty? Create 2 scripts (First.PS1 and Second.PS1) to explore what is going on with $MyInvocation and how you can use it to determine what directory a script was invoked from: PS> cat ...

Use of Preference Variables to control behavior of streams

July 4, 2006 Jul 4, 2006 07/4/06
PowerShell Team
PSMDTAG:FAQ: Why don't I see output when I use Write-Verbose and Write-Debug?PSMDTAG:SHELL: Use of Preference Variables to control behavior of streams. In Windows PowerShell, the WRITE-XXX cmdlets merely sends things to a Named stream.  You then have user-defined preferences for what to do when things appear on that stream.  Alex ...

Perserving Command History Across Sessions

July 1, 2006 Jul 1, 2006 07/1/06
PowerShell Team
<Edited 7/2/2006 to add tags and Categories> Ben Winzenz didn't like the fact that Windows PowerShell did not maintain history lists between sessions (http://winzenz.blogspot.com/2006/06/cool-mshpowershell-tidbit.html) .   We hear you Ben.  Back to my least favorite phrase, "to ship is to choose".  That said, we ...