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Don Jones

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Don Jones

372 articles published

• 5 min read

State of the Org: Website, Games, Summit, and More

I wanted to share a quick update on PowerShell.org, Inc. First, a couple of Web designer friends of mine have volunteered to do a visual re-theme of the site. Below is some of their early work, and you’re welcome to comment; I’ll just remind you that they’re volunteers and doing this _as a favor. _So be nice! You’ll notice that one of these reflects the layout a smartphone would use, which trims much of the “chrome” in favor of the content.

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Announcements PowerShell Summit
• 1 min read

PowerShell Great Debate: Can You Have Too Much Help?

In The Scripting Games this year, more than a few folks took the time to write detailed comment-based help. Awesome. No debating it - comment-based help _is a good thing. _ But some folks felt that others took it too far. There were definitely scripts where the authors used, for example, the .NOTES section to explain their thinking and approach. Some commenters felt it was excessive, while others have pointed out, “wow, what if every programmer gave us some idea what the heck he/she was thinking at the time?

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• 3 min read

Coming Soon: 55039 "PowerShell Scripting and Toolmaking" Course

Later this month, Jason Helmick will be offering a revised “PowerShell Scripting and Toolmaking” course at Interface Technical Training in Phoenix. This new course carries the Microsoft Courseware Marketplace number 55039 - that’s right, this is an official, unofficial course that will be available to all Microsoft training partners! (Courseware Marketplace offerings are not written or endorsed by Microsoft, but they are equivalent to Official Curriculum in many ways, including being eligible for Software Assurance voucher programs.

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Training
• 1 min read

My PowerShell Workflow Series on TechNet Magazine

As most folks are aware, I’ve been writing the Windows PowerShell column for Microsoft’s _TechNet Magazine _for… wow, going on 7 years now. For 2013, I was doing a serialized column on PowerShell Workflow, introducing a bit of the technology at a time in each month’s article. Eagle-eyed observers will note that the series has “paused,” with no new articles in July or August. First, I’m sorry for the interruption. Unfortunately, right now Microsoft is re-evaluating and re-positioning TechNet Magazine (perhaps in line with a larger re-considering of the TechNet brand, where they recently discontinued the subscription product), and for the time being the company is sticking with internally generated content for TechNet Magazine.

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PowerShell for Admins
• 2 min read

A Quick #PowerShell #PSHSummit Update (Europe & NA)

PowerShell Summit North America 2014, April 28-30 (special precon on April 27) is open for registration to our 2013 alumni, shareholders, and to TechLetter subscribers. The alumni block will be released on August 15, and the subscriber block on September 15th; shortly after, sales will be open to the public. If you’re a shareholder, alumni, or subscriber, and you didn’t get your registration in e-mail, drop me a line (use the Contact link in the Site Info menu).

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Announcements PowerShell Summit
• 4 min read

Is this list "Everything" in PowerShell?

Soooo…. it’s time for me to start looking at updating my various training materials (books, videos, courses, whatnot) for v4. I’m going to, with at least some of these, take an all-versions approach. I’ll teach what’s in v2, then cover what v3 added, then cover v4, etc. It’ll be easier to maintain over the upcoming years. For right now, I’m trying to assemble an organized topic list of “everything” the shell does.

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Training
• 2 min read

PowerShell Great Debate: Script or Function?

One of the most frequent comments in The Scripting Games this year was along the lines of, “you should have submitted this as a function, not a script.” Of course, the second-most frequent comment was something like, “you shouldn’t have submitted this as a function.” Let’s be clear: if an assignment explicitly asks for a function, you should write one. What we’re debating are the pros and cons of a single tool being written one way or another.

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• 2 min read

PowerShell Great Debate: PowerShell Versions?

Today’s Great Debate is a bonus, offered from former team member June Blender. Take it away, June! Like several of the excellent debates in our Great Debate series, this debate issue arose during in Scripting Games 2013 when different judges used different selection criteria to evaluate entries. Some judges, like me, wanted to see evidence that the scripter had studied all features of the newest version of the Windows PowerShell language and selected the best approach for their solution.

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• 2 min read

PowerShell Great Debate: The Purity Laws

This should be interesting. During The Scripting Games, I observed (and in some cases made) a great many comments that I’m lumping under the name “Purity Laws.” You shouldn’t use a command-line utility like Robocopy in a PowerShell script. You shouldn’t use .NET classes in a PowerShell script. You should map a drive using New-PSDrive, not net use. And so on. You see where I’m going: there are folks out there who feel as if the only thing that goes into a PowerShell script is Pure PowerShell.

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• 1 min read

Calling all PowerShell Teachers/Trainers

I’m in the process of building a referral list for teachers and trainers who work with Windows PowerShell. My goal is to build a “find a trainer” page here on PowerShell.org, with the ability for prospective clients to send an inquiry via email. This would be for customers seeking private classes, not for individual students seeking a class. If you’d like to be on the list, please send me an email, or use the “Contact” page under the “Site Info” menu here on PowerShell.

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Training