Professional Windows® PowerShell

10.3. Summary

The default install of Windows PowerShell prevents you executing PowerShell scripts and configuration files on PowerShell startup. The get-executionpolicy cmdlet allows you to find out the current setting of the Windows PowerShell execution policy.

To modify the current execution policy, you can use the set-executionpolicy cmdlet, if you have administrator privileges. I showed you alternative techniques using Regedit or editing the registry from the Windows PowerShell command line.

The read-host cmdlet allows you to accept user input. The write-host cmdlet allows you to customize the display of information in the PowerShell console.

I described the following types of operators that Windows PowerShell supports:

• Arithmetic — Use to calculate values

• Assignment — Use to assign one or more values to a variable

• Comparison — Use to compare values and perform conditional tests

• Logical — Use in statements containing more than one conditional test, to specify how those tests are to be applied

• Unary — Use to increment or decrement variables or object properties

• Special — Use to, for example, run commands or specify a value's datatype

I introduced the following cmdlets that you can use to work with PowerShell variables:

• set-variable

• new-variable

• get-variable

• clear-variable

• remove-variable

Chapter 11 introduces several more features of the Windows PowerShell language.