Creating a "Better" More

In a previous tip you learned that using "more" to paginate output can be dangerous, and instead you should use Out-Host -Paging. To "update" more.com and make it behave like Out-Host with the -Paging parameter set, use a proxy function like this one:

function more {
 param(
 [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
 [System.Management.Automation.PSObject]
 $InputObject
 )

 begin
 {
  $type = [System.Management.Automation.CommandTypes]::Cmdlet
  $wrappedCmd = $ExecutionContext.InvokeCommand.GetCommand('Out-Host', $type)
  $scriptCmd = {& $wrappedCmd @PSBoundParameters -Paging }
  $steppablePipeline = $scriptCmd.GetSteppablePipeline($myInvocation.CommandOrigin)
  $steppablePipeline.Begin($PSCmdlet)
 }

 process { $steppablePipeline.Process($_) }
 end { $steppablePipeline.End() }
#.ForwardHelpTargetName Out-Host
#.ForwardHelpCategory Cmdlet
}

Once you run it, whenever you use "more", behind the scenes PowerShell will now call "Out-Host -Paging" instead. That's why now, with the new "more" in place, you can safely use lines like this:

PS> Get-EventLog -LogName System | more

Note that your new "more" now works anywhere. The built-in "help" function, for example, also uses the outdated "more.com" and now will work faster, too.

ReTweet this Tip!