The commands in this module have been developed to make it easier to automate the PowerShell scripting and module development. These tools were first described in a series of blog posts.

This module has been written for PowerShell 7.1 and later. It is most likely that the the commands will work in Windows PowerShell, but you will need to fork this module and revise as necessary. Otherwise, install this module from the PowerShell Gallery.

To see a summary of these commands at any time, run Get-PSFunctionTools

This command takes the body of a script file and wraps it in a function declaration. The command will insert missing elements like cmdletbinding() and comment-based help. You will most likely need to edit and clean up the result in your scripting editor. If you run this command in the PowerShell ISE or the VS Code PowerShell integrated terminal, you can use the dynamic parameter ToEditor to open a new file with with the output. You can edit and save the file manually.

It is assumed that your script file is complete and without syntax errors.

You should use Export-FunctionFromFile when you want to export PowerShell functions defined in in a single script file, placing each function in its own file. You might want to do this to build or restructure a PowerShell module.

You can export all functions from a file or specific functions. The default behavior is to only export functions that follow a standard verb-noun naming convention. The source must be a .ps1 or .psm1 script file.

If you run this command in the PowerShell ISE or the VS Code integrated PowerShell Terminal, you can use the dynamic parameter Remove to delete the function from the source file.

You +can use this command to export a function which is loaded into your PowerShell session. You might need to do this when you create an ad-hoc function and want to save it to a file. This command will take the content of the function and export it to a ps1 file. The function name will be used for the file name. Although, characters like the colon will be stripped to create a filesystem-compatibale filename.

You can also include #Requires statements.

Use Export-ModuleLayout to export a model module directory structure to a json file. You can use Import-ModuleLayout to recreate the layout from the json file. The export process will include not only directories, but also text files like a readme or license file.

Format-FunctionName is intended to be used as a helper function in your scripting automation. This is a simple function that will format a verb-noun function name into proper case. It will take an input such as test-data and format it as Test-Data. It will not format as PascalCase. The command also will not verify that the verb component is acceptable. Use Test-FunctionName for that process.

Get-FunctionAlias is a tool you can use in your scripting automation. It will extract function names and aliases from a PowerShell script file. The source must be a .ps1 or .psm1 file. The command will only idenfity aliases defined as part of the function using code like [alias('foo')].

This command can be used to get function attributes such as cmdletbinding or alias settings.

When exporting functions from files, you may only want to export specific functions. Which you can do if you know the name. Use Get-FunctionName to identify the names of functions. The default behavior is to get names of functions that follow the verb-noun naming convention.

This command will provide information about a module layout folder which was created using Export-ModuleLayout. The default output is custom object. You can elect to view the layout as a tree. This parameter requires the tree commandline utility which should be available on Windows systems by default. On non-Windows platforms, you may need to install the utility.

This command is designed to use the PowerShell AST and retrieve a function's parameter block. You might use this to build comment-based help.

As part of your scripting automation, you may want to capture requirements defined in a script file such as # requires -version 5.1. The command Get-PSRequirements will process a PowerShell script file for these type of requirements.

Use Import-ModuleLayout to recreate a module structure from a json file created with Export-ModuleLayout. Importing the json file will recreate the folders and files.

You can use this command in your scripting automation to generate a comment-based help block for a function. The function will use the parameter block which you can get with Get-ParameterBlock to define help parameters. If your parameter has a HelpMessage defined, the value will be used in the parameter description. You can also specify a synopsis and/or description. Otherwise, you can edit the placeholders later.

New-ModuleFromFiles is an experimental command. It is not guaranteed to run without error and may change significantly between module versions. The command is designed to process a collection of PowerShell script files which contain PowerShell functions. Each function will be exported to an individual file to a location you specify.

The function relies on a module layout file to scaffold the module directory.

If you have the Platyps module installed, you can also choose to create help documentation. If you have git installed, you can initialize the module as a git repository. This process will also checkout a new branch.

This command is very similar to New-ModuleFromFiles. That function builds a module structure from existing files. This function creates a new module but without defining any commands. New-ModuleFromLayout will still create a module structure based on a layout and it will still create module files. Specifically,the module manifest and root module files.

If git.exe is detected, you can use the InitializeGit dynamic parameter to initialize the module as a git repository.

PowerShell function names should follow naming convention of Verb-Noun. The verb should be a standard verb that you see with Get-Verb. Use this command in your scripting automation to validate a PowerShell function name.

If the name passes validation it will be written to the pipeline. Or you can use the -Quiet parameter to return a traditional boolean result.

Get-FunctionProfile is designed to give you a technical summary of a PowerShell function. You might use this to preview what commands a function might execute or if it supports -Whatif. The function might be something someone else wrote, or perhaps you want to double-check your code.

Note that the analysis may not be 100% accurate. For example, it is difficult to distinguish between the alias foreach and the foreach enumerator.

Here is a sample analysis. Commands should be PowerShell cmdlets, including resolved aliases. Detected command aliases will also be retrieved. Unresolved commands might be undefined aliases or some other command that PowerShell could not resolve.

This module includes a Samples folder. Here, you can find sample PowerShell scripts and functions that you can use with the commands in this module.

You are welcome to copy, paste, and edit these samples as much as you would like.

Please use the repository's Issues section for reporting bugs and requesting new features. Remember, the commands in this module are designed for PowerShell 7.1 and later.