HistoryPx uses proxy commands to add extended history information to PowerShell. This includes the duration of a command, a flag indicating whether a command was successful or not, the output generated by a command (limited to a configurable maximum value), the error generated by a command, and the actual number of objects returned as output and as error records. HistoryPx also adds a "__" variable to PowerShell that captures the last output that you may have wanted to capture, and includes commands to configure how it decides when output should be captured. Lastly, HistoryPx includes commands to manage the memory footprint that is used by extended history information.
- PowerShell 3.0
- SnippetPx module
Copyright 2016 Kirk Munro
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
HistoryPx is dependent on the SnippetPx module. You can download and install the latest versions of HistoryPx and SnippetPx using any of the following methods:
If you don't know what PowerShellGet is, it's the way of the future for PowerShell package management. If you're curious to find out more, you should read this: Package Management for PowerShell Modules with PowerShellGet
Note that these commands require that you have the PowerShellGet module installed on the system where they are invoked.
# If you don’t have HistoryPx installed already and you want to install it for all
# all users (recommended, requires elevation)
Install-Module -AllowClobber HistoryPx,SnippetPx
# If you don't have HistoryPx installed already and you want to install it for the
# current user only
Install-Module -AllowClobber HistoryPx,SnippetPx -Scope CurrentUser
# If you have HistoryPx installed and you want to update it
Update-ModuleTo install from PowerShell 3.0 or later, open a native PowerShell console (not ISE, unless you want it to take longer), and invoke one of the following commands:
# If you want to install HistoryPx for all users or update a version already installed
# (recommended, requires elevation for new install for all users)
& ([scriptblock]::Create((iwr -uri http://bit.ly/Install-ModuleFromGitHub).Content)) -ModuleName HistoryPx,SnippetPx
# If you want to install HistoryPx for the current user
& ([scriptblock]::Create((iwr -uri http://bit.ly/Install-ModuleFromGitHub).Content)) -ModuleName HistoryPx,SnippetPx -Scope CurrentUserWhen it comes to module auto-loading, HistoryPx does not function the same way that other modules do, because the proxy commands it includes are part of core PowerShell modules that take priority during command lookup. As a result, you should manually load HistoryPx in order to get extended history support in PowerShell by invoking the following command:
Import-Module HistoryPxIf you use HistoryPx on a regular basis, you can add that to your profile script so that it is automatically loaded in every session.
The HistoryPx module is designed to work transparently within PowerShell. For example, once the module is loaded and after you have invoked several commands, you can display history information by invoking Get-History. With HistoryPx loaded, this will show you output similar to the following:
Id CommandLine Duration Success #Errors Output
-- ----------- -------- ------- ------- ------
1 ipmo HistoryPx 00:00:00.264 True
2 Get-Service 00:00:00.267 True {AdobeARMserv...
3 Get-Process 00:00:00.877 True {System.Diagn...
4 function Test-Throw {... 00:00:00.000 True
5 Test-Throw 00:00:00.003 False 1 !
This output provides you with much richer historical information, including the command duration, a flag indicating whether the command was successful or not according to how PowerShell measures command success, the objects that were output by the command, and the number of errors that were generated by the command (including an exclamation mark if a terminating error was raised). This view is the default view for extended history information. You can see even more details by passing the results of Get-History to Format-List, as follows:
Get-History | Format-List *Being able to view extended history information can come at a cost though, because it requires keeping output in memory. In order to manage that requirement properly, the HistoryPx module includes commands to configure the maximum number of extended history entries that will be retained in the current session as well as the maximum number of output items that will be retained per extended history entry. By default, HistoryPx will retain 200 extended history entries and 1000 output items per entry. To change those values, you can use the Set-ExtendedHistoryConfiguration command, as follows:
Set-ExtendedHistoryConfiguration -MaximumEntryCount 100 -MaximumItemCountPerEntry 500Also, if there are specific entries in the history that you want to remove, you can simply use Clear-History, which is a proxy cmdlet in HistoryPx. It will clear the appropriate history entries as well as any extended history information that is associated with those entries.
Aside from providing extended history information, HistoryPx also adds support for the automatic capture of output. This feature is like having an assistant watching over your shoulder, capturing output when you want it and ignoring output when you don't. If you invoke a command that outputs data you might want to do more with, HistoryPx automatically captures this output in a variable. By default, it uses a double-underscore ("__") variable name, but you can change that to use a variable name of your choosing. Once output has been captured, it will retain that output until you invoke another command that generates other output that you would like to capture. It decides when you want to capture new output in the last captured output variable by following a few simple rules:
- Single value types (integer, datetime, etc.) are not captured by default (this is configurable);
- Null is not captured by default (this is configurable);
- Objects of the following type are not captured by default (this is configurable): "HistoryPx.ExtendedHistoryConfiguration", "HistoryPx.CaptureOutputConfiguration", "System.String", "System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.ConsolidatedString", "HelpInfoShort", "MamlCommandHelpInfo", "System.Management.Automation.CommandInfo", "Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GenericMeasureInfo", "System.Management.Automation.PSMemberInfo", "Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.MemberDefinition", "System.Type", "System.Management.Automation.PSVariable" For these object types, their Deserialized and Selected counterparts are also not captured.
In addition, the last output will not be captured when you do any of the following:
- Define a function, workflow or filter;
- Assign a value to a variable (e.g. =, +=, -=, *=, /=, %=);
- Increment or decrement the value in a variable (e.g. ++ or --);
- Reference a variable (e.g. $pid, $svc.DisplayName, $p.foreach([int]));
- Use the last captured output variable in a command (e.g. Stop-Service $__.Name).
This feature is very handy, because it greatly reduces the need to use temporary variables while you are doing ad-hoc scripting. Here's a short transcript showing this feature in action:
PS C:\> gsv c*
Status Name DisplayName
------ ---- -----------
Stopped c2wts Claims to Windows Token Service
Running CertPropSvc Certificate Propagation
Stopped COMSysApp COM+ System Application
Stopped cphs Intel(R) Content Protection HECI Se...
Running CrmSqlStartupSvc SQL Server (CRM) On-Demand Shutdown
Running CryptSvc Cryptographic Services
Running CscService Offline Files
PS C:\> $__
Status Name DisplayName
------ ---- -----------
Stopped c2wts Claims to Windows Token Service
Running CertPropSvc Certificate Propagation
Stopped COMSysApp COM+ System Application
Stopped cphs Intel(R) Content Protection HECI Se...
Running CrmSqlStartupSvc SQL Server (CRM) On-Demand Shutdown
Running CryptSvc Cryptographic Services
Running CscService Offline Files
PS C:\> $__.where{$_.Status -eq 'Stopped'}
Status Name DisplayName
------ ---- -----------
Stopped c2wts Claims to Windows Token Service
Stopped COMSysApp COM+ System Application
Stopped cphs Intel(R) Content Protection HECI Se...
PS C:\> get-help Start-Service
NAME
Start-Service
SYNOPSIS
Starts one or more stopped services.
SYNTAX
Start-Service [-InputObject] <ServiceController[]> [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Include <String[]>] [-PassThru]
[<CommonParameters>]
Start-Service [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Include <String[]>] [-PassThru] -DisplayName <String[]> [<CommonParameters>]
Start-Service [-Name] <String[]> [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Include <String[]>] [-PassThru] [<CommonParameters>]
DESCRIPTION
The Start-Service cmdlet sends a start message to the Windows Service Controller for each of the specified
services. If a service is already running, the message is ignored without error. You can specify the services by
their service names or display names, or you can use the InputObject parameter to supply a service object
representing the services that you want to start.
RELATED LINKS
Online Version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=293919
Get-Service
New-Service
Restart-Service
Resume-Service
Set-Service
Stop-Service
Suspend-Service
REMARKS
To see the examples, type: "get-help Start-Service -examples".
For more information, type: "get-help Start-Service -detailed".
For technical information, type: "get-help Start-Service -full".
For online help, type: "get-help Start-Service -online"
PS C:\> $__
Status Name DisplayName
------ ---- -----------
Stopped c2wts Claims to Windows Token Service
Running CertPropSvc Certificate Propagation
Stopped COMSysApp COM+ System Application
Stopped cphs Intel(R) Content Protection HECI Se...
Running CrmSqlStartupSvc SQL Server (CRM) On-Demand Shutdown
Running CryptSvc Cryptographic Services
Running CscService Offline Files
PS C:\> gcm -noun service
CommandType Name ModuleName
----------- ---- ----------
Cmdlet Get-Service Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Cmdlet New-Service Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Cmdlet Restart-Service Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Cmdlet Resume-Service Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Cmdlet Set-Service Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Cmdlet Start-Service Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Cmdlet Stop-Service Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Cmdlet Suspend-Service Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
PS C:\> $__
Status Name DisplayName
------ ---- -----------
Stopped c2wts Claims to Windows Token Service
Running CertPropSvc Certificate Propagation
Stopped COMSysApp COM+ System Application
Stopped cphs Intel(R) Content Protection HECI Se...
Running CrmSqlStartupSvc SQL Server (CRM) On-Demand Shutdown
Running CryptSvc Cryptographic Services
Running CscService Offline Files
PS C:\> get-command start-service -syntax
Start-Service [-InputObject] <ServiceController[]> [-PassThru] [-Include <string[]>] [-Exclude <string[]>] [-WhatIf]
[-Confirm] [<CommonParameters>]
Start-Service [-Name] <string[]> [-PassThru] [-Include <string[]>] [-Exclude <string[]>] [-WhatIf] [-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
Start-Service -DisplayName <string[]> [-PassThru] [-Include <string[]>] [-Exclude <string[]>] [-WhatIf] [-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
PS C:\> $__
Status Name DisplayName
------ ---- -----------
Stopped c2wts Claims to Windows Token Service
Running CertPropSvc Certificate Propagation
Stopped COMSysApp COM+ System Application
Stopped cphs Intel(R) Content Protection HECI Se...
Running CrmSqlStartupSvc SQL Server (CRM) On-Demand Shutdown
Running CryptSvc Cryptographic Services
Running CscService Offline Files
PS C:\> get-verb s*
Verb Group
---- -----
Search Common
Select Common
Set Common
Show Common
Skip Common
Split Common
Step Common
Switch Common
Save Data
Sync Data
Start Lifecycle
Stop Lifecycle
Submit Lifecycle
Suspend Lifecycle
Send Communications
PS C:\> $__
Status Name DisplayName
------ ---- -----------
Stopped c2wts Claims to Windows Token Service
Running CertPropSvc Certificate Propagation
Stopped COMSysApp COM+ System Application
Stopped cphs Intel(R) Content Protection HECI Se...
Running CrmSqlStartupSvc SQL Server (CRM) On-Demand Shutdown
Running CryptSvc Cryptographic Services
Running CscService Offline Files
PS C:\> get-process -id $pid
Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) VM(M) CPU(s) Id ProcessName
------- ------ ----- ----- ----- ------ -- -----------
501 30 135644 146328 624 2.88 26628 powershell
PS C:\> $__.WorkingSet64
149839872
PS C:\> $__
Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) VM(M) CPU(s) Id ProcessName
------- ------ ----- ----- ----- ------ -- -----------
501 30 135644 146328 624 2.95 26628 powershell
Note how the last output variable is not updated until you run a command that returns other object data that passes the tests listed above. This magic allows you to just get things done without worrying about so many temporary variables.
If you want to configure how output is captured, see the help documentation for the following two commands:
Get-CaptureOutputConfiguration Set-CaptureOutputConfiguration
That should give you a good idea of what is included in this module. If you have ideas on what else you might like to see related to command history, please let me know on the GitHub page.