Sending Objects to Notepad

In a previous tip we showed how you can send text to a fresh Notepad instance. Today, you get an enhanced version of Out-Notepad: you can pipe anything to Notepad now. If it is not a string, Out-Notepad uses the internal PowerShell ETS to convert it to text and show it appropriately:

#requires -Version 2
function Out-Notepad
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
    [Object]
    [AllowEmptyString()] 
    $Object,

    [Int]
    $Width = 150
  )

  begin
  {
    $al = New-Object System.Collections.ArrayList
  }

  process
  {
    $null = $al.Add($Object)
  }
  end
  {
    $text = $al | 
    Format-Table -AutoSize -Wrap | 
    Out-String -Width $Width

    $process = Start-Process notepad -PassThru
    $null = $process.WaitForInputIdle()


    $sig = '
      [DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "FindWindowEx")]public static extern IntPtr FindWindowEx(IntPtr hwndParent, IntPtr hwndChildAfter, string lpszClass, string lpszWindow)
      [DllImport("User32.dll")]public static extern int SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int uMsg, int wParam, string lParam)
    '

    $type = Add-Type -MemberDefinition $sig -Name APISendMessage2 -PassThru
    $hwnd = $process.MainWindowHandle
    [IntPtr]$child = $type::FindWindowEx($hwnd, [IntPtr]::Zero, "Edit", $null)
    $null = $type::SendMessage($child, 0x000C, 0, $text)
  }
}

You can pipe anything to Out-Notepad. If it is text already, it is displayed as-is:

 
PS C:\> Get-Content $env:windir\system32\drivers\etc\hosts | Out-Notepad

If you pipe object results, Out-Notepad converts them to text and makes sure nothing is cut off. You may want to play with the -Width parameter to choose the page width that works best for you:

 
PS C:\> Get-EventLog -LogName System -EntryType Error, Warning -Newest 10 | Out-Notepad -Width 130 

And you may want to maximize Notepad or disable word wrap to see the correct formatting.

Throughout this month, we’d like to point you to three awesome community-driven global PowerShell events taking place this year:

Europe: April 20-22: 3-day PowerShell Conference EU in Hannover, Germany, with more than 30+ speakers including Jeffrey Snover and Bruce Payette, and 60+ sessions: www.psconf.eu.

Asia: October 21-22: 2-day PowerShell Conference Asia in Singapore. Watch latest announcements at www.psconf.asia

North America: April 4-6: 3-day PowerShell and DevOps Global Summit in Bellevue, WA, USA with 20+ speakers including many PowerShell Team members: https://eventloom.com/event/home/PSNA16

All events have limited seats available so you may want to register early.

ReTweet this Tip!