Powershell Cmdlets and Member Notes

Resources

Cmdlet Overview - PowerShellMicrosoftLearn

What is a Cmdlet and How Does It Work? | Definition from TechTargetWhatIs

Discovering objects, properties, and methods - PowerShellMicrosoftLearn

PowerShell: Objects, Properties and Methods - RajanandRajanand

PowerShell Script Examples [Top 75]SharePoint & Microsoft Power Platform Tutorials - SPGuides

Cmdlets

A small, lightweight command that is used in Windows PowerShell. It exists as a small script that is intended to perform a single specific function, such as copying files and changing directories. Native PowerShell commands, not stand-alone executables. Cmdlets perform an action and typically return a Microsoft .NET object.

PowerShell is an object-oriented scripting language. It represents data and system states using structured objects derived from .NET classes defined in the .NET framework.

What is .NET Framework? A software development framework | .NETMicrosoft

PowerShell uses a verb-noun name pair to name cmdlets.

• The naming pattern is meant to make cmdlet easier to remember and read

• The verb identified the action that the cmdlet performs.

  • The -Verb flag targets the part of the command name that related to the verb

• the noun identifies the resource on which the cmdlet performs its action

  • The -Noun flag targets the part of the command name that related to the noun.

• Here are some examples of commands:

  • Get-Command (gives you information about available commands, like man).

  • Get-Process (gives you information about running processes)

  • Set-Service (modified the properties of a service)

Example

// Noun 

Get-Command -Noun alias* 

//verb 

Get-Command -Verb Get -Noun alias*

Cmdlet Properties

Properties are the attributes of an object. To illustrate this concept, consider a driver's license as an analogy. Like any object, a driver's license has properties, such as eye color, which typically includes blue and brown values.

Extended Properties

Extending Properties for Objects - PowerShellMicrosoftLearn

Methods

Methods are the actions you can perform on an object. In contrast to properties, methods represent actions you can perform on the object. For instance, Revoke is a method that the Department of Motor Vehicles can perform on a driver's license.

Member Type

In PowerShell, a member type refers to a specific category of elements that comprise an object.

• Properties

  • Attributes or characteristics of an object holding data or values associated with it.

• Methods

  • Actions or functions that an object can perform. Executable blocks of code associated with an object.

• Events

  • Notifications that an object can raise when something significant happens

• Member Sets

  • Collections of other members, often used to group related properties or methods