PowerShell: convert a SecureString to a String
A small PowerShell function that uses Marshal.SecureStringToBSTR to turn a SecureString read from the console into plain text for an external program.
Tag
powershell
14 related posts.
PowerShell: making the most of type conversion
How to write a PSTypeConverter and register it with a ps1xml file so PowerShell's Extended Type System converts a custom .NET type into DirectoryInfo.
PowerShell: tell relative and absolute paths apart
Using .NET's System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted from PowerShell to detect whether a path parameter is relative and join it with the current directory.
PowerShell: automatic variables
A tour of handy PowerShell automatic variables like $?, $Error, $LastExitCode, $MyInvocation, $PSBoundParameters and $PSScriptRoot, and their gotchas.
PowerShell: watch out, there is more than one $null
An empty pipeline result and a plain $null both look like $null in PowerShell, but wrapping them in @() gives arrays of different lengths.
PowerShell: check whether a variable has already been defined
Using Test-Path with the variable: drive to check whether a script-scoped PowerShell variable exists before using it under Set-StrictMode.
PowerShell: return an empty array from a function
Returning an empty array from a PowerShell function gives you $null unless you use the unary comma trick in the return statement.
PowerShell: the advantages of typed parameters and variables
Typing PowerShell variables and parameters, like [array] for Get-ChildItem results or DirectoryInfo for paths, avoids surprising behavior.
PowerShell: switch parameters
PowerShell switch parameters aren't booleans but SwitchParameter objects, so check them with IsPresent or ToBool(), especially in Pester tests.
PowerShell: careful, ($a -eq $a) is not always $true
Comparing two identical arrays with -eq in PowerShell doesn't return $true, because the operator filters collections instead of comparing them.
PowerShell: create the manifest file for many modules at once
A short pipeline script that generates a .psd1 manifest for every PowerShell module in a folder tree, plus a one-liner to unload modules by company.
PowerShell: why Set-StrictMode matters
How Set-StrictMode -Version 2 catches typos and C#-style function calls in PowerShell scripts, and how typed parameters bring it closer to TypeScript.
PowerShell: stop execution when Import-Module cannot find the module
Import-Module raises a non-terminating error when the module is missing, so the script keeps going; setting $ErrorActionPreference to Stop fixes it.
PowerShell: stop wget (Invoke-WebRequest) from taking so long
Invoke-WebRequest downloads in PowerShell can be several times slower because of the progress bar; setting $ProgressPreference to SilentlyContinue fixes it.