There is scripting expertise built-in to PowerShell v.2 that can be activated like this: set-strictmode -version 1set-strictmode -version 2 Use the...
database-tools
Getting System Uptime
If you'd like to determine a system's uptime, you should use WMI and convert the WMI date into a more readable format: function...
Display Work Hours in Prompt
Up for some fun with your prompt? Make it a bit shorter, display the minutes (or hours) you have been working so far, and show the current path in...
“MySQL server has gone away” Part 2: session timeout.
This is the second and last article of a small series on reasons for the error message: “MySQL server has gone away”. The first appeared here...
Count Your Work: Calculating Process Runtime
Each process stores its start time, so it is fairly easy to find out when the process was launched. If you'd like to know when you started your...
Accessing Current PowerShell Process
If you ever want to access the process that is executing your current PowerShell session, use the $pid automatic variable which tells you the...
Adding Custom Methods to Types
In a previous tip, we have added a new script method to a string called Words() which would split the string into words. But is it worth the effort?...
Adding Custom Methods to Objects
In a previous tip, you learned how to add custom properties to objects. Today, we want to show you how to add custom methods and also give an...
Adding Custom Properties
You may have heard that PowerShell can add custom properties to objects. While we are not going into much detail about this here, we'd like to...
CSV-Files With Culture
In a previous tip, you learned that CSV files use different separators, depending on your culture. While you were unable to select a separator in...
CSVs with Alternative Delimiters
In PowerShell V1, creating CSVs wasn't very flexible because PowerShell was limited to the comma as separator. In many cultures, different...
Persisting Objects with XML
In the previous tip, you learned that Export/Import-CSV does not persist property types. Instead, all properties are converted to string. To...
Import-CSV and Types
Export-CSV and Import-CSV are great ways of persisting data in a structured way. There are some limitations, though. Take a look. This line saves a...
PowerShell ISE uses Unicode
If you start experimenting with PowerShell V2 ISE (editor), you may notice that all scripts you create are saved in Unicode by default. This was...
Finding Alias Names in V2
Alias names are shortcuts for other commands, and you probably know that. In PowerShell V1, the only way to retrieve all aliases for a given target...
Storing Cmd-Results in PowerShell Variables
You can run classic cmd commands from within PowerShell and store the results in variables. All you need to do is invoke cmd.exe with the /c switch...
Using Classic Shell Inside of PowerShell
Since both PowerShell and the classic cmd.exe are console-based, it is very easy to switch between both of them. If you must use a classic shell...
Deleting Characters in the Console
Moving the cursor in long input lines is not very convenient. You cannot use the mouse and have to use arrow keys to move backwards and forward....
Why isn’t my console background blue?
Maybe you have noticed that some PowerShell consoles have a nice blueish background while others default to black. Actually, the blueish background...
Download Consolas Font For PowerShell
Well, ok, Consolas wasn't specifically designed for PowerShell but rather as an enhancement for all consoles. It is a new Microsoft font that...
Better Fonts And Larger Buffer
Each PowerShell console has a small icon at the left of its title bar, and when you right-click this icon and choose Properties, you open the...
"MySQL server has gone away" Part 1: max_allowed_packet.
Most MySQL users have tried getting this rather cryptic error message: "MySQL server has gone away". The MySQL documentation describes...
Autocompleting the Console Way
There are many autocompletion tricks built into PowerShell, and you probably know that pressing TAB is always a good idea to save typing. There is...
Clear Command List
There are actually two places where your commands get stored: One is maintained by PowerShell (Get-History, Invoke-History). The other one is...