PowerShell: Automating Administrative Tasks

Chapter 7. Functions

In the previous chapter, we learned about packaging a set of commands in a script. In this chapter, we will look at using functions to provide the same kind of containment. We will discuss the differences between functions and scripts, and drill down more into parameters. The specific topics covered in this chapter include the following:

• Defining functions
• Comparing scripts and functions
• Executing functions
• Comment-based help
• Function output
• Parameters
• Default values

Another kind of container

Scripts are a simple way to reuse your commands. Scripts are file-based, so there is an inherent limitation—you can only have one script per file. This may not seem like a problem, but when you have hundreds or even thousands of pieces of code, ...