PowerShell has an unusual way of dealing with return values. Anything you left behind will be added to the return values. The statement...
database-tools
Pretty-Printing Error Objects
Whenever you deal with error objects, you may want to use the following PowerShell function: Get-ErrorInfo. It accepts any number of error records,...
Automatically Updating Modules
Modules installed via PowerShellGet can be updated automatically to the latest version. You would need to run PowerShell with full Administrator...
May the 4th Be with You – Win Star Wars Legos from IDERA!
Do. Or do not. There is no try. IDERA is celebrating Star Wars Day all week long! And to prove it, we are giving away a box of Millennium Falcon...
Keeping Your Modules Up-To-Date
Once you start downloading modules from the PowerShell Gallery (or via PowerShellGet in general), you get version control automatically. You can...
Better Prompting for Mandatory Parameters
When you do not submit an argument to a mandatory parameter, PowerShell prompts you for a value. You don't have much control over how this is done,...
Use Mandatory Parameters
Mandatory parameters are cool: you can submit values to them for automated solutions, and you can omit them and get prompted interactively. Here is...
Accept User Input with Validator
Of course you can use Read-Host to ask a user for some input, or use mandatory parameters. They all are kind of ugly, and have next to no...
Encryption vs. Security Analytics
I recently read 2 articles on security; The first covered the new model in which analytics are used to detect security issues; And a second...
Keeping Track of Installed Modules
When you start using PowerShellGet to download modules from the PowerShell Gallery (www.powershellgallery.com) or your own NuGet repositories, you...
Join IDERA at the Annual SSWUG Spring Virtual Conference
We are pleased to be a part of this year’s virtual SSWUG conference taking place April 28-29. There is a rockstar lineup of presenters which...
Tailing Log Files
You can ask PowerShell to monitor a text-based log file and output any changes. It is a one-liner: Get-Content c:\Windows\WindowsUpdate.log -Wait...
Checking Paths and Files for Illegal Characters
In the previous tip we illustrated how you can get a list of characters that are illegal in paths or file names. However, what would be the best and...
Finding Invalid File and Path Characters
When dealing with files and folders, some characters are considered illegal. Here is an easy way to get a list of the characters that Windows...
May #SQLChat – “Uncovering Data Modeling Myths”
Our next #SQLChat will take place Wednesday, May 11 at 11 AM CT with host Karen Lopez (@datachick) as she leads a conversation exploring the myths...
Operate Your Own PowerShell Gallery
With PowerShellGet, you can easily share PowerShell code. Go to www.powershellgallery.com and download the MSI installer to install PowerShellGet if...
Identifying Special Characters
If you must ensure that a string contains only a given set of characters, try this: $text = 'tobias.weltner' $hasOtherCharacters = $text...
Inserting Text into String
Use Insert() to insert new text into an existing string at a given position. Here is an example: $text = "Server failed" 1..100 |...
Dealing With Long File Names
The Windows file system often has issues with file paths longer than 256 characters. Provided you followed our tips and installed PowerShellGet, you...
Tune and Profile Multi-platform Databases better with IDERA DBOptimizer
Streamline SQL Tuning Across Major DBMSs Tune poorly performing SQL code on all major DBMSs (Oracle, SQL Server, DB2 and Sybase) from a single...
April #SQLChat Wrap-Up: SQL Server Migrations
IDERA hosted its April #SQLChat on Tuesday, April 12 at 11 AM CT with Rie Irish, Director of Database Administration with Paymetric, Inc. This...
Colorizing PowerShell Console
In PowerShell 5.0, when you enter code into the PowerShell console, the tokens get colorized, much similar to the PowerShell ISE interactive...
How to Migrate from ER/Studio Repository 7.0 to ER/Studio Team Server 2016
ER/Studio has evolved in various ways over the past several releases. One of the key changes introduced in ER/Studio 2016 in January 2016 is the...
SSRS Report Won’t Render in VS Preview
I love getting get a laptop, but getting all the software reinstalled and making sure everything works can be trying. Last week, I was lucky enough...