SAPIEN Technologies

We released a new build of PowerShell HelpWriter 2017 (v2.1.36). In this article, we will discuss the new features introduced in this build.

New Features

Updated HTML Preview / Export

We update the HTML preview / export format. The new format provides more detailed information about the cmdlet and follows the same format as the markdown version of the help. If parameter set names are available, they will be included in the generated HTML help file.

Default Parameter Set

You can specify a default parameter set in PowerShell HelpWriter. This can be done multiple ways.

Via the Navigation panel context menu:

The Navigation panel denotes the default parameter set by using a check mark next to the parameter set name.

Or by checking the default field in the Parameter Set view or the Cmdlet view:

Common Parameters

PowerShell HelpWriter now allows you to specify if a cmdlet uses common parameters. You can set the Has Common Parameters flag using the Cmdlet view or the Parameter Set view.

Note that the parameter set syntax is updated to reflect the use of common parameters. This change is also reflected in the generated HTML and markdown files.

Workflows

You can also denote when a cmdlet is a workflow. You can specify a workflow using the cmdlet view:

Or use the Navigation panel context menu:

Workflows are distinguished in the Navigation panel by color.

When you check the workflow option, the parameter set syntax is automatically updated to reflect that the cmdlet has common workflow parameters:

If you use PowerShell Studio’s Create Module from Help command, it will detect the workflow flag and generate a workflow instead of a normal function. In addition, it will utilize the default parameter set and parameter set names.

New Keyboard Shortcuts

This service release includes a few new keyboard shortcuts (with the exception of Ctrl + N, which was included for completeness):

Error Logging

If the application encounters an unhandled exception, it will now log the exception information into the following log:

C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\SAPIEN\PowerShell HelpWriter 2017\ErrorLog.txt

Use this log to report any errors on our PowerShell Studio product support forum:

https://www.sapien.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=28

Please continue providing your feedback. Many of the new features included in the service builds are suggestions from users like you. Therefore, if you have any suggestions or feature requests, please share them with us on our Wish List and Feature Requests forum.