{"id":3931,"date":"2013-03-30T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-30T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.technet.microsoft.com\/heyscriptingguy\/2013\/03\/30\/weekend-scripter-run-c-code-from-within-powershell\/"},"modified":"2013-03-30T00:01:00","modified_gmt":"2013-03-30T00:01:00","slug":"weekend-scripter-run-c-code-from-within-powershell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/weekend-scripter-run-c-code-from-within-powershell\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Scripter: Run C# Code from Within PowerShell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/strong>: Learn how to execute C# programs from source without a compiled binary by using Windows PowerShell.<\/span><\/p>\n

Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. Today guest blogger, Ingo Karstein, is back with us to share his knowledge. You can also read previous guest blogs by Ingo<\/a>. Take it away Ingo…<\/p>\n

Some time ago, I created a script called PS2EXE that creates EXE files out of Windows PowerShell script files. It is posted on the Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog: Learn About Two CodePlex Projects: PS2EXE and RoboPowerCopy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now I have created another script, rather the opposite of PS2EXE: C#Script<\/strong>. This script is able to execute C# programs from source code without a compiled binary.<\/p>\n

I’ve done this because I have several C# tools that I always use for my daily business. Some of them are not easily convertible to Windows PowerShell. But I like the fact that script files are always readable because you only need the source code, no compiler. There is no need for binaries with separate source projects somewhere on the hard disk, so I decided to create a script with the purpose of running C# code inside Windows PowerShell.<\/p>\n

The idea is simple:<\/p>\n

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  1. Take a C# program file and compile it into the memory.<\/li>\n
  2. Search for the Main<\/strong> method and call them using .NET reflection.<\/li>\n
  3. Add some basic .NET console support to write output from the C# program to the Windows PowerShell environment.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The C# program will be executed in a real .NET thread that is created in the Windows PowerShell script by using a helper class that is compiled in memory at runtime too. This helper class provides some synchronous .NET events that can be subscribed in Windows PowerShell to handle the console output.<\/p>\n

    Note<\/strong>   You can download C#Script from the Microsoft TechNet Gallery: C#Script: Execute source code C# programs from PowerShell<\/a>. You should be aware of the following limitations:<\/p>\n