It’s quite easy to load and use .Net assemblies in Windows PowerShell, which of course is one of the main selling points of the script language. In this post I’ll show a few examples.
Listing all loaded assemblies:
PS> [AppDomain]::CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies() GAC Version Location --- ------- -------- True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\mscorlib.dll True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.PowerShell.Conso... True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System\2.0.0.0__b77a5c5619... True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Management.Automati... True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Configuration.Insta... True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.PowerShell.Comma... True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.PowerShell.Secur... True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.PowerShell.Comma... True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Management\2.0.0.0_... True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.DirectoryServices\2... True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_32\System.Data\2.0.0.0__b77a5c5... True v2.0.50727 C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Xml\2.0.0.0__b77a5c...
To load a new assembly, do the following:
[reflection.assembly]::loadfile('C:\...\bin\Entities.dll')
When an assembly has been loaded, types and code in it can be used with the new-object Cmdlet, for example:
PS> $obj = new-object Entities.Affär
PS> $obj.Affärsnummer = “2323232”
PS> $obj.Kundnamn = “Acme”
PS> $obj
Kundnummer :
Kundnamn : Acme
Organisationsnummer :
KontaktpersonKund :
Referens :
Affärsnummer : 2323232
Fas :
Betalningsvillkor :
Status : None
Fakturaaddress :
Fakturor : {}
Id : 0
PS> $obj.Validate()
Exception calling “Validate” with “0” argument(s): “Affärsnummer: Felaktig data: Affärsnummer skall alltid vara 9 siffror”
At line:1 char:14
+ $obj.Validate( < <<< )
[/code]
Pretty cool, huh? (BTW, Validate() is a method on the "Affär" class.)
Also note that some command completion works with imported types. For example, if I type "$obj." and then press TAB, then the console will cycle through the available members of the type in question.
There's more to write about this interesting subject, so more posts will come...
/Emil