Powershell

In the previous tip we explained how Invoke-WebRequest can be used to download the raw HTML content for any web page. This can also be used to...

Sometimes, cmdlets automatically display a progress bar. Here is an example of such a progress bar: $url =...

PowerShell comes with a built-in web client which can retrieve HTML content for you. For a simple web page analysis, use the -UseBasicParsing...

If you are writing PowerShell functions, and you know a particular function has the potential to cause a lot of harm, there is an easy way of adding...

In our last tip we explained how you can hide parameters from IntelliSense. This has a cool side effect that we’d like to point you to today!...

In one of the previous tips we examined how Get-Member can retrieve the property names for an object. Here is another use case that takes any...

In the previous tip we explained how you can dump all the legal values for a PowerShell attribute. Today we’ll take a look at the [Parameter()]...

As you might know, you can add attributes to variables and parameters to more specifically define them. For example, the line below defines a...

Most PowerShell functions use static parameters. They are defined in a param() block and are always present. A little-known fact is that you can...

Typically, it is trivial for PowerShell to retrieve raw HTML website content by using Invoke-WebRequest. A script can then take the HTML content and...

Occasionally, you might want to create a function that accepts different parameter types. Let’s say you want the user to be able to either submit an...

Most old VBS scripts can be easily translated to PowerShell. The key command in VBS is “CreateObject” which lets you access system libraries....

PowerShell can invoke Microsoft Excel sheets and start contained macros. While this would work with an invisible Excel application window, it is a...

Ever wondered how you can list all properties exposed by a function or cmdlet? Here is how: Get-Help Get-Service -Parameter * | Select-Object...

Whether you import a CSV list into PowerShell using Import-Csv, or deal with any other type of objects: how can you automatically determine the...

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In previous tips we illustrated how you can improve loops and especially pipeline operations. To transfer this knowledge to functions, take a look...

In the previous tip we added considerable speed to a common script pattern. Now, let’s squeeze out even more performance with a pretty unusual...

Here is a common mistake found in many PowerShell scripts: $start = Get-Date $bucket = @() 1..100000 | ForEach-Object { $bucket += "I am adding...

Here is a chunk of code that demonstrates how you can store private settings in the Windows Registry: # store settings here $Path =...

If you use Outlook to organize your calendar events, here is a useful PowerShell function that connects to Outlook and dumps your calendar entries:...

How would you query for all AD users with names that start with a “e”-“g”? You shouldn’t use a client-side filter such...

Maybe you’d like to add a column with incrementing indices to your objects. Try this: $startcount = 0 Get-Service | Select-Object -Property...

In the previous tip we explained what Group-Object can do for you, and how awesome it is. Unfortunately, Group-Object does not scale well. When you...