powertips

Ever needed to get your hands on some specific culture IDs? Here is how you can create a list:...

When you want to clear the console content, you probably use "cls" or Clear-Host. For some strange reason, the Clear-Host cmdlet really is...

While there are two paths for changing the console color, will you be able to revert back to the original settings once you set colors via...

Like any other console window, PowerShell has 16 pre-defined colors that you can choose from to set background and foreground color. You can use two...

PowerShell inherits by default variables downstream so subsequent scopes can "see" the parent variables. If you want to turn off variable...

Static variables are accessible everywhere. They can be used to collect data from various scopes in one place. You can use a prefix for a variable...

PowerShell variables are inherited downstream by default, not upstream. So any variable you create at a given scope is passed to any code you call...

"Break" is a special keyword that you can use to exit loops and conditions prematurely. Have a look: Do { $pwd = Read-Host 'Enter your...

When you handle errors yourself using Trap or try/catch, you should make sure that you set your ErrorActionPreference to "Stop" or specify...

In a previous tip, you learned that "Continue" can skip code in a loop. Another scenario for using "Continue" is error handling....

You will find that "Continue" is a special instruction that you can use in loops to skip the remainder of a loop. This next loop returns...

In a previous tip, you learned how to use RegEx to scrape information from Web pages. It really is just a matter of finding the right...

Regular expressions are a great way of identifying and retrieving text patterns. Take a look at the next code fragment as it defines a RegEx engine...

Probably the easiest way of reading raw Web page content is using the Web client object. This will read the Web content of...

Assigning (multiple) return values with Write-Output works well, but you should keep in mind that Write-Output is picky and returns the exact thing...

When you leave data behind, PowerShell automatically returns it to the caller. This may create strange-looking code. With Write-Output, you can...

There is a fundamental difference between outputting data using Write-Host and just "leaving info behind":" Function test {Write-Host...

In a previous tip, you learned how to register event log sources and write your own event log entries. With Show-Eventlog, you can easily open the...

Logging information to your event log is easy when using Write-Eventlog. You will just need to register your own event source first by using...

You can launch a separate PS environment and elevate it Iif you are running your script in a restricted environment and want to run a...

Whenever you need to enter credentials, you can either use Get-Credential or a low- level PS API function like so: $c =...

You can use Read-Host to hide user inputs for safe password prompts: $pwd = Read-Host -AsSecureString 'Enter Password'Enter Password: ******...

If you need to prompt for a secret password and do not want it to be visible while entered, you should use Get-Credential. This cmdlet returns a...

You will find that types can contain very useful methods. To get a list, you can pass the type to Get-Member, but do not forget to specify the...