====== Common patterns in PowerShell ======

===== Getting help on a cmdlet =====

You can use the ''Get-Help'' command to get the Powershell alternative of a man page. E.g.:

<code powershell>
Get-Help "Test-Path'
</code>

The first time you use ''Get-Help'', PowerShell may need some time to download necessary help files.

===== Defining an empty list =====

You can define an empty list like so:

<code powershell>
$a = @()
</code>

And you can add items by:

<code powershell>
$a += ,$item
</code>

===== Creating custom objects =====

To more conveniently manage or output data while using Powershell, it is often useful to use custom objects. They can be created as follows:

<code powershell>
$Person = [PSCustomObject]@{
    FullName = "Thomas De Reyck"
    Age = 37
    Job = "IT technician"
}
</code>

When you output the created object afterwards, we can see our own custom fields:

<code powershell>
> $Person

FullName        Age Job
--------        --- ---
Thomas De Reyck  37 IT technician
</code>

{{tag>powershell}}