database-tools

Checking Text Ending with Wildcards

In a previous tip you learned how to use the string method EndsWith() to check whether a text ends with certain characters. This method does not...

Counting Log Activity

Did you know that Group-Object can analyze text-based log files for you? Here's sample code that tells you how many log entries on a given day a...

Shrinking Paths

Many file-related .NET Framework methods fail when the overall path length exceeds a certain length. Use low-level methods to convert lengthy paths...

Output to Console AND Variable

To assign results to a variable and at the same time view these results in your console, place the assignment operation into parenthesis: ($result =...

Converting to Signed Using Casting

In a previous tip, you learned how to use the Bitconverter type to convert hexadecimals to signed integers. Here is another way that uses type...

Converting to Signed

If you convert a hex number to a decimal, the result may not be what you want: PS> 0xFFFF 65535 PowerShell converts it to an unsigned number...

Getting Timezones

Here's a low level call that returns all time zones: PS> [System.TimeZoneInfo]::GetSystemTimeZones() Id : Dateline Standard Time DisplayName...

Mapping Printers

To map a network printer to a user profile, here's a powerful low level command: rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n...

Fun with Date and Time

Get-Date can extract valuable information from dates. All you need to know is the placeholder for the date part you are after. Then, repeat that...

Chapter 14. XML

In today’s world, data is no longer presented in plain-text files. Instead, XML (Extensible Markup Language) has evolved to become a de facto...

Counting Work Days

Ever wanted to know how many days you need to work this month? Here's a clever function that lists all the weekdays you want that are in a...

Converting to Hex

Here's a simple way to convert a decimal to a hex representation, for example, if you want to display an error number in standard hexadecimal...

Chapter 12. Managing Scope

Anything you define in PowerShell - variables, functions, or settings - have a certain life span. Eventually, they expire and are automatically...

Chapter 10. Scripts

PowerShell can be used interactively and in batch mode. All the code that you entered and tested interactively can also be stored in a script file....

Showing MsgBox

Ever wanted to display a dialog box from PowerShell rather than spitting out console text? Then try this function: function Show-MsgBox { param (...

Chapter 8. Loops

Loops repeat PowerShell code and are the heart of automation. In this chapter, you will learn the PowerShell loop constructs. Topics Covered:...

ASCII Table

Here’s a simple way of creating an ASCII table through type casting: 32..255 | ForEach-Object { 'Code {0} equals character {1}' -f $_, [Char]$_ }...

Chapter 7. Conditions

Conditions are what you need to make scripts clever. Conditions can evaluate a situation and then take appropriate action. There are a number of...