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Do PrimalScript and PrimalForms 2011 support SharePoint and Exchange? Yes, PrimalScript and PrimalForms 2011 supports any module or snapin that is not bound to a specific host, such as the PowerShell ISE. Both products will provide code completion, syntax coloring, and dynamic help for modules and snapins. The 2011 products also support 64Bit snapins and Modules.  Both products allow you to change between 32Bit and 64Bit platforms on the fly.…   More »

Why create a GUI for my PowerShell Scripts? Microsoft Windows became successful because it offers an easy to use visual interface which doesn’t require users to remember console commands. Users still prefer a mouse click over having to type a command. One of the top reasons users create a GUI for their scripts is to distribute the script to a non-PowerShell user. For example, using PrimalForms or PrimalScript 2011 users can package their GUI script into an executable and distribute it to their help desk or other end users. The GUI doesn’t require the end user to open the console…   More »

We had a great show at TechEd 201. We’d like to thank all of the people who took the time to pass by our booth. I would like to take this time to answer some common questions we were asked at TechEd 2011.   Isn’t PrimalForms 2011 only for creating GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) in PowerShell? No, PrimalForms 2011 is a full featured PowerShell editor and much more. The product started as a GUI only tool but has evolved considerably from the Community Edition. In fact, you are not required to use the GUI designer in PrimalForms 2011 at all.…   More »

Drop by the SAPIEN booth 1908 at Teched today. Show us your script monkey and say "I scream for PrimalForms" and you could win 1 of 5 TFM books!…   More »

SAPIEN Press e-books are currently formatted as PDF files. Therefore, any PDF reader should be able to display our files so that you can read them. Of course, depending on your device, "your milage may vary." Let's take a look at how the Apple iPad handles our e-books. The Apple iPad has a 9.7" (diagonal) display with a resolution of 1024x768. There are several applications that can display PDF files available on the iPad including DropBox, an awesome tool for accessing files across various devices including your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad. Recently, Apple updated its iBooks e-book reader…   More »

The ILOVEYOU virus in the year 2000 gave Windows Script Host a bad rep because it simply executed every script you double clicked on. Now, mind you, I personally think that was much more the fault of the email clients that indiscriminately executed every attachment without hesitating and the users who where too infatuated with the message to look at the attachment's extension. Anyway, the Windows Script Host for VBScript and JScript files has a registry setting that allows scripts to run uninhibited or only if they are signed. The default is to run everything, so you better use group…   More »

It's actually kind of funny. I heard the same thing about VBScript years ago, about C++ a decade earlier, and being aware that I am dating myself here, about C, Pascal, Windows Programming, VI, Emacs, punch cards, VT100 terminals and about rubbing two sticks together to start a fire. The point is, everything that is new, unfamiliar and sufficiently complex requires some effort to learn. PowerShell contains quite some powerful constructs and commands, paired with a style of language that looks alien to the uninitiated. I understand that the sheer amount of $ signs, squiggly braces, underscores and nested parenthesis…   More »

Some folks wandered by our booth and after realizing that some of our products involve editing scripts of various languages reacted with statements like: "I use notepad, it works fine", "Notepad is just on every machine" or "What would you do that Notepad can't do.?" Others bowed their head almost in shame while admitting that they use notepad. First of all, there is nothing wrong with using notepad if you have nothing else available, you make do with what you have. How much more of a sophisticated editor on top of just plain Notepad you need is for you to…   More »

... Android, Blackberry, Windows 7 Mobile or Palm? The simple answer is, unfortunately, no. But we have started looking into some of these other mobile device platforms, specifically Android and Windows 7 Mobile. There are so many cool and interesting features we want to add to iPowerShell, that it is taking up all of our current mobile platform development resources. If you are already an Android or Windows 7 Mobile developer, maybe we can work together to get iPowerShell out faster on those platforms. Contact info@sapien.com and let us know!…   More »

Many of you folks came by our booth at TechEd and asked about our PowerShell training options. Inevitably the question about learning VBScript came up: "With all the power of PowerShell, why do I need to learn VBScript?" If you pose this question to any language fan boy it usually turns into a discussion about which language is better. But it isn't a question of better or worse. It's not a competition. Some of us remember the discussions about C vs. Pascal, C vs. C++ vs. Delphi, C# vs. C++ or, last but not least, Java vs. all other languages.…   More »