Occasionally people ask us about our resolutions… not the New Year’s kind, but rather, the video kind. As you probably know, SAPIEN has produced several PowerShell training videos. These videos come in two formats: on DVD and as a download.

The DVD videos are not “true” DVDs, i.e. if you pop them into your DVD player they will not play like a movie. Rather, these videos are packaged as .MOV files for viewing on your computer  using Apple QuickTime. These .MOV files have a vertical resolution of 720 pixels (HD quality.) They play great on computers and other devices that can handle the resolution.

Also included on the DVD is an iPhone/iPod touch formatted version of the video (.M4V extension). These videos were created before the iPad was available and are really only a convenience for use on the above mentioned devices. The PowerShell Fundamentals video is formatted with a vertical resolution of 180 pixels (this was done because it is twice as long as the other disks and there was a space limitation on the DVD.) The Intermediate, Advanced and What’s New videos are formatted with a vertical resolution of 360 pixels.

Our second option is our downloadable set. These videos (.MP4 extension) were all reformatted to look good on the iPad or the iPhone/iPod touch with the retina display. We were also concerned about file size so as not to make the download too laborious. Each of the downloadable PowerShell videos is formatted with a vertical resolution of 360 pixels.

So if you have made a resolution to learn PowerShell this year, then take advantage of our resolutions and learn from the best!

Technorati Tags: powershell, training, Windows PowerShell

How well do you know PrimalScript or PrimalForms? Do you have the writing skills necessary to write a detailed technical manual for our products? If so, SAPIEN is looking for someone to write a clear, understandable and detailed manual for our products.

We are really looking for people with significant writing experience, a good knowledge of our products and a willingness to delve even deeper into them. You will be working directly with our developers to create the manuals for the next versions of our products!

Become the authority on SAPIEN software! If you are interested, submit a resume and a sample of your technical writing skills to our CTO and WRITE ON!

Technorati Tags: Books, Manuals, PrimalForms, PrimalForms 2011, PrimalScript, Technical Writing

New versions of PrimalScript 2011, PrimalForms 2011, PrimalSQL 2011 and PrimalXML 2011 are available. Registered users can download the latest service builds from MySAPIEN.

Release Notes:

PrimalScript 2011 v6.0.162

UPD: Installer changed to install debugger as shared component
FIX: Various installer fixes
FIX: Minor enhancements and improvements
ADD: Error message if database connection fails

PrimalForms 2011 v2.0.20

FIX: Issue with ListView and SubItems
FIX: Tab issue when Copy / Paste into the console
FIX: Issue with missing file icon in project
FIX: Project issue where a form’s return value for the ComboBox was empty.
FIX: Other minor fixes and changes
UPD: Using Extended Print Dialogs
UPD: Installer changed to install debugger as shared component

PrimalSQL 2011 v2.0.15

UPD: Using Extended Print Dialogs
UPD: Minor changes and fixes

PrimalXML 2011 v2.0.5

UPD: Minor changes and fixes

Technorati Tags: PrimalForms 2011, PrimalScript 2011, PrimalSQL 2011, PrimalXML 2011, service release

You have created the mother of all PowerShell scripts and spent endless hours honing its performance and catching error conditions. Now that you are rolling out this gem of a script to your users, you find out that they don’t take to the command prompt as you do.

You have also found out that some others even go and edit your skillfully crafted script and are now blaming you for errors.

You can avoid all of that by converting your command line script to a Windows Forms application with PrimalForms 2011. Create a GUI version of your PowerShell script to make the user interface easier for everyday users and package your script into an executable to prevent modification in the field.

Don Jones explained the process in one of our training sessions. View the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB9iuxL1sk0&context=C3c0855aADOEgsToPDskJoPGOPgFvn5KhcDFBweZ8g

This video, along with its detailed voice-over, will walk you through creating the GUI, adding events and event handlers. It also explains how to export and package your script into a single executable for distribution.

Technorati Tags: powershell, PrimalForms, PrimalForms 2011, Visual PowerShell, Windows PowerShell

iPowerShell, that MUST HAVE little iPhone/iPad PowerShell reference is going pro with the release of iPowerShell Pro today. The pro app includes a great many infrastructure changes and feature additions which set it up for major future enhancements as well. Here are just some of the changes/additions to iPowerShell Pro:

• Initial data can be downloaded from SAPIEN servers
• Ability to add your own PowerShell Help XML files
• Ability to add your own aliases
• PowerShell Twitter feed
• Swipe cmdlet description screen with 2 fingers to get the next/previous cmdlets alphabetically
• Lync cmdlets added
• Sharepoint cmdlets added
• Dynamic header buttons take you immediately to specific sections in cmdlet descriptions
• Pretty printing of cmdlets with headers and footers
• Full Airplay Video support
• Help file added
• SAPIEN products list added

And that is just to start! Expect to see greater functionality in the months to come and, of course, PowerShell 3 support when Microsoft releases Windows 8. Since iPowerShell Pro is a commercial product, we now have forums set up for technical support as well. That support forum is available here on our web site.

iPowerShell Pro is only $4.99 in the app store. Check it out right here!

Help

Cmdlet List

Cmdlet Detail

Technorati Tags: iPad, iPhone, powershell, SAPIEN, scripting, Windows PowerShell

New versions of PrimalScript 2011, and PrimalForms 2011 are available. Registered users can download the latest service builds from MySAPIEN.

Release Notes:

PrimalScript 2011 v6.0.158

UPD: Misc. improvements and bug fixes.
ADD: Manual chapters added to the Document Explorer

PrimalForms 2011 v2.0.19

UPD: Inserts Default Assemblies if they are missing
UPD: Spotlight Article List
FIX: Caching issues with PowerShellV3 CTP2
FIX: Issue of GridView Columns not appearing when form is ran for the first time

Technorati Tags: PrimalForms 2011, PrimalScript 2011, service release

All SAPIEN Software has docking panels of some kind or another. Combine a multi-tabbed environment like PrimalScript with docked multi-tabbed panels and it can get a bit overwhelming if you dragged your output windows somewhere by accident and can’t get it back to where you think it should be. Let’s look at the overall layout of PrimalScript:

As soon as you start dragging a panel group or a panel the docking guides appear as shown above.
You can drag an entire group of tabbed panels by grabbing the active panel by its caption as shown above.

If you only want to grab a single panel from a group click on the tab and start dragging as shown here:

You will also notice that as soon as you move the mouse over part of the docking guide a shaded area appears, indicating where the panel would be docked if you release the left mouse button now.

Let’s just say we managed to dock the output panel on top (as shown below) and we want to get it back to the bottom, in a tabbed group with the docked Debug panel that is already there.

Grab the output window by its caption and drag it down to the Debug panel:

You will notice that the central dock guide moves down as soon as the mouse cursor gets into the docked Debug panel. That is because that central dock guide applies to the current dock group.
So in the above image, if you release the left mouse button over the center of the docking guide the output panel docks as a tabbed panel.
Release it on the top,left,right or bottom part of the central guide and the output panel is docked on the selected side. For example, if you released it on the left it docks like this:

If you look at the docking guides again, you see two bottom guides:

They both have different effects, so try for yourself.

Aside from docking you can also convert a panel to a tabbed view or vice versa.

Lets take a PowerShell console as an example. Normally the console panel is docked in the bottom panel group.
Now right click on the tab and you will see this menu:

Select “Tabbed Document” and the shell panel moves to your tabbed documents.

To reverse that right click on the tab again and uncheck “Tabbed Document” and the panel goes back to where it was.

Let us know if you have any questions regarding panels, views and docking.

Technorati Tags: docking, panels, PrimalForms, PrimalScript

You really need to make PowerShell your top New Year’s Resolution because 2012 is *the* year of PowerShell.  Microsoft is putting it front and center in its Windows Management Framework 3.0 which is due sometime in 2012.  And you need to be ready for it.  Sure, you need to put exercise and a good diet at the top of your priorities, too, but you need to feed and exercise your brain as well.  Keeping your brain in shape will lead to job security, a fat wallet, and incessant praise from your colleagues and your end users.  Well, maybe not the end users because they never appreciate your work, but you get the point.  You WILL be a better person for knowing PowerShell.

So, here’s the deal for the month of January 2012: purchase PrimalForms 2011, the PowerShell Training videos, and easily the best book on PowerShell—Windows PowerShell 2.0 TFM—for the ridiculously low price of $299!  That’s over 30% in savings but you don’t even need to think of it in terms of savings.  Rather, think of this deal in terms of your future potential.  Everything is going to be PowerShell in the networking world this year and so you need to be ready for it.

PrimalForms 2011 is our powerful and versatile PowerShell scripting environment.  It works with both command line and GUI-based scripts and comes with both a 32-bit and a 64-bit debugger.  If you work primarily in the console, you have both 32-bit and 64-bit consoles that allow you to switch back and forth between them without restarting or losing your context.  You can even drag and drop lines from the console into the script pane and vice-versa for easier development and unmatched scripting/console integration. Of course, PrimalForms is great at creating visual PowerShell-based executables that you can distribute to your end users.

Our set of PowerShell Training videos is completely downloadable and comes in four main modules: Fundamentals, Intermediate, Advanced, and What’s New in Version 2.0.  Starting from scratch, these titles provides more than 30 total hours of instruction, including conceptual animations, demonstrations and samples, hands-on exercises, and much more, all in a friendly, easy-to-understand style.  Check our website for samples you can download:http://www.sapien.com/training/selfpaced.

“Windows PowerShell v2.0 TFM” is (unabashedly) the best book out there on the subject.  Written by Don Jones and Jeffery Hicks, both scripting gurus, it walks you through PowerShell scripting from the ground up: you don’t need any prior PowerShell, VBScript, or any other scripting or programming experience. You’ll learn about cmdlets, snap-ins, scripts, PowerShell’s security model, and just enough of the .NET Framework to be effective. Written in an easygoing, casual style with plenty of examples, you’ll find yourself producing useful PowerShell scripts after the second chapter!  You can download a sample by clicking the “Try It” button at http://www.sapien.com/books/Windows-PowerShell-2.

Of course, even if you believe that the world ends in 2012, you should still buy this special.  We’re not quite sure how to argue this point other than by saying that the world will probably not end and, therefore, you will need to be PowerShell-enabled.  Make it *your* year of PowerShell!

Technorati Tags: powershell, PrimalForms, SAPIEN Press, SAPIENPress, VBScript, Windows PowerShell

Wow! Has another year gone buy already? It seems as if it was only yesterday that I wrote a Welcome 2011 blog post. 2011 saw quite a bit of activity from SAPIEN. New versions of all of our software products were released. Digital download versions of our videos became available. We continued and improved our support for iOS.

So what is in store for 2012? Well I can tell you but then I would have to send the SAPIEN minions to do terrible things to you! Just kidding! About the minions…

Seriously though, I would not want to ruin any surprises. But as you may expect, we are hard at work expanding and improving our product offerings. Big, exciting changes are in store for PrimalScript and PrimalForms. Of course, Microsoft is getting ready to release Windows 8 and with it, PowerShell 3. So you KNOW that we will be all over THAT with unparalleled support for the new version of PowerShell.

And of course, there may be a surprise or two in the mix as well.

So have a Happy New Year and visit us often in 2012 to see what exciting new stuff is coming from SAPIEN.

Ferdinand Rios
CEO, SAPIEN Technologies, Inc.

Technorati Tags: 2012, powershell, PrimalForms, PrimalScript, SAPIEN, Visual PowerShell, Windows PowerShell

If you package your script with PrimalScript’s or PrimalForm’s packager you have the option of including a manifest. This manifest can be used to make your executable file prompt for elevation when executed.

It’s easy to spot the difference between an application that will prompt for elevation and one that does not by looking at the icon:

Now, imagine the surprise if you get a shield on your icon and an elevation prompt when you run a file you packaged without a manifest.

As you can see from the image below it’s all in the name:

I simply took the package with no manifest and renamed it.

So in the absence of a manifest Windows 7 uses the name of your executable file to determine if it need elevation. The terms “Setup”, “Install” and “Patch” trigger that behavior, but only if the exe file has no manifest at all.
If you don’t want your packaged executable to ever prompt for elevation you should add a manifest to all your packages.

I should also note that once you turn UAC (User Access Control) off you won’t see any of this of course.

Technorati Tags: Packager, powershell, PrimalForms, PrimalScript, VBScript