A Quick guideline for Microsoft Windows PowerShell Part-2.

The objective of this article (Part-2) is to introduce you with the using of VB / Microsoft .Net library, Function, Methods as well in your Microsoft Windows PowerShell script.

Table of Contents  

• Introduction
• Background 
• VB Script to PowerShell 
  • Functions / Methods
• Message to All Silver Members and Above
• Conclusion 
• References  
• Point of interest
• History

Introduction   

The VBA developer as well as VB Script writer are very much familiar with the use of mostly common built-in library or function, for example CInt(), CStr(), Abs()… etc. In this section we will not discuss on how to use this library or function in VB Script. We will discuss how we can convert & use library or function in Microsoft Windows PowerShell.
 

Background 

So, our main objective of this article is to put all mostly used library or function & there use in Microsoft Windows PowerShell under a single article. 

This is very important to know that Microsoft Windows PowerShell doesn’t have built-in methods, but we can achieve by using the .NET Framework library.

Note:

This article is a common place for all to participate with proper code snippets and full explanation. 

VB Script to PowerShell 

In this section we will discuss on how we can convert and use all the library or function which are widely use in VB Script.

Functions / Methods

List of Function / Methods:

Function / Methods	Function / Methods	Function / Methods	Function / Methods
Abs()	Cos()	Split()	LBound()
Asc()	CSng()	Eval()	LCase()
CBool()	CStr()	Filter()	Left()
CByte()	Date()	Hex()	Len()
CCur()	DateAdd()	Hour()	LTrim()
CDate()	DateDiff()	IsDate()	RTrim()
CDbl()	DatePart()	IsEmpty()	Mid()
Chr()	DateSerial()	IsNull()	Minute()
CInt()	DateValue()	IsNumeric()	Month()
CLng()	Day()	IsObject()	MonthName()
Now()	Replace()	Right()	Round()

1. Abs(): Returns the absolute value of a number.
Example:

$result = [math]::abs(-99)

Output: 99

2. Asc():Returns the ANSI character code corresponding to the first letter in a string.
Example:

$result = [byte][char] "A"

Output: 65

3. CBool (): Returns an expression that has been converted to a Variant of subtype Boolean.
Example:

$result = 0  // 0 is for false & 1 is for true
$result = [bool] $result

Output: False

4. CByte (): Returns an expression that has been converted to a Variant of subtype Byte.
Example:

$result = "99.45"
$result = [byte] $result

Output: 99

5. CCur():Returns an expression that has been converted to a Variant of subtype Currency.
Example:

$result = "{0:C}" -f 100

Output: $100.00

6. CDate ():Returns an expression that has been converted to a Variant of subtype Date.
Example:

$result = '17/08/2010'
$result = [datetime]$result

7. CDbl (): Returns an expression that has been converted to a Variant of subtype Double.
Example:

$result = "10.99"
$result = [double]$result

Output: 10.99

8. Chr (): Returns the character associated with the specified ANSI character code.
Example:

$result = [char]42

Output:  *

9. CInt (): Returns an expression that has been converted to a Variant of subtype Integer.
Example:

$result = "99.96"
$result = [int] $result

Output:  100

10. CLng (): Returns an expression that has been converted to a Variant of subtype Long.
Example:

$result = "123456789.45"
$result = [long] $result

Output:  123456789

11. Date(): Returns the current system date.
Example:

$result = get-date –format d

Output: 1/2/2002

12. Now(): Returns the current date and time according to the setting of your computer’s system date and time.
Example:

$result = get-date

Output: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 1:32:08 AM

13. Cos(): Returns the cosine of an angle.
Example:

$result = [math]::cos(45)

Output: 0.52532198881773

14. CSng(): Returns an expression that has been converted to a Variant of subtype Single.
Example:

$result = "99.45"
$result =  [single] $result

Output: 99.45

15. CStr(): Returns an expression that has been converted to a Variant of subtype String.
Example:

$result = 99
$result = [string] $result

Output: “99”

16. DateAdd(): Returns a date to which a specified time interval has been added.
Windows PowerShell you can determine that by using the Get-Date Cmdlet along with the appropriate method. For example, this command calculates the date 37 days from the current
date (using the AddDays() method) and stores that value in the variable $result.

Example:

$result = get-date
$result
$result = (get-date).AddDays(37)
$result

Output:
Wednesday, January 02, 2002 2:31:06 AM
Friday, February 08, 2002 2:31:06 AM

17. DateDiff(): Returns the number of intervals between two dates.
Example:

$result = New-TimeSpan $(Get-Date) $(Get-Date –month 12 -day 31 -year 2006 -hour 23 -minute 30)

Output:

Days              : 1824
Hours             : 20
Minutes           : 55
Seconds           : 0
Milliseconds      : 0
Ticks             : 1576689000000000
TotalDays         : 1824.87152777778
TotalHours        : 43796.9166666667
TotalMinutes      : 2627815
TotalSeconds      : 157668900
TotalMilliseconds : 157668900000

18. DatePart(): Returns the specified part of a given date.
Example:

$result = (get-date).day
$result = (get-date).dayofweek
$result = (get-date).dayofyear
$result = (get-date).hour
$result = (get-date).millisecond
$result = (get-date).minute
$result = (get-date).month
$result = (get-date).second
$result = (get-date).timeofday
$result = (get-date).year

Output:

2
2
Wednesday
2
2
921
41
1
50

Days              : 0
Hours             : 2
Minutes           : 41
Seconds           : 50
Milliseconds      : 953
Ticks             : 97109531250
TotalDays         : 0.112395290798611
TotalHours        : 2.69748697916667
TotalMinutes      : 161.84921875
TotalSeconds      : 9710.953125
TotalMilliseconds : 9710953.125

19. DateSerial(): Returns a Variant of subtype Date for a specified year, month, and day.
Example:

$result = get-date -y 2010 -mo 12 -day 31

Output: Friday, December 31, 2010 2:46:44 AM

20. DateValue(): Returns a Variant of subtype Date.
Example:

$result = [datetime] "12/1/2010"

Output: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 12:00:00 AM

21. Day(): Returns a whole number between 1 and 31, inclusive, representing the day of the month.
Example:

$result = (get-date).day

Output: 2

22. Replace(): Returns a string in which a specified substring has been replaced with another substring a specified number of times.
Example:

$result = "Hallo"
$result = $result -replace("a","e")

Output: Hello
……

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