Very nice if you are having to support older systems as well as more modern ones.įrom a development standpoint, it has the nice feature of organizing your scripts into projects. It also has the ability to run your scripts in either 32 or 64 bit mode, all within the same editor. Yep, you can take all your proprietary code and keep it safe from prying eyes by compiling it into an easy to distribute EXE file. For example, PowerShell Studio makes it easy to package your scripts into executables. They just run a single command, enter in some information into an easy to understand Windows Form, and they are off and running.īut Windows Forms are just the tip of the iceberg. Now you will be able to let an experienced PowerShell developer create the complex script, then give it to someone who may not even know PowerShell. This also expands the sphere of people who can run the script.

The person running the script could enter the information in any order, and when they were done just click an big OK button to launch the script. It would be far preferable to have a simple, single windows dialog pop up and ask all these questions at once. Then there’s the issue of who is going to run the script. You could reduce complexity by having multiple scripts, but then you increase the workload. Or have a vast array of command line switches and parameters you need to enter just right in order to run the script. You could, of course, have the script prompt you one question at a time. What’s the name? What’s the activation key? What do you want installed? SQL Server? SharePoint? You can imagine though all of the things you would need to enter in order to create the machine. “Hey Robert this is supposed to be scripts, what do we need Windows Forms for?” That’s a great question.Ī very common task to do in scripting is the creation of virtual machines. It’s key selling point is the ability to quickly and easily create Windows Forms that can be called from, and raise events in, your PowerShell scripts. This by far is the most comprehensive tool of any on the market. I thought I’d kick things off with the “Cadillac” of tools, SAPIEN PowerShell Studio 2012. Yes, that’s right, there’s more out there then just the IDE that ships with PowerShell. Over the next few blog posts I thought I’d present some of the various PowerShell IDE’s on the market.

Sapien powershell studio review