SAPIEN Technologies

In a recent PowerShell ScriptingAnswers.com post, a member was asking about variables and whether they were “live” or linked to an actual object.The answer is “Yes and No, depending…”  For example, consider this expression:

PS C:\> $s=get-service wsearch

The $s variable holds the wsearch service object.  I can check it’s status:

PS C:\> $s.status
Running
PS C:\>

I could even stop it:

PS C:\> $s.stop()

However, $s will still show a status of Running while the actual service shows that it was stopped.

PS C:\> $s.status
Running
PS C:\> get-service wsearch

Status   Name               DisplayName
------   ----               -----------
Stopped  WSearch            Windows Search

The $s variable is quasi-live but is really just a container for the service object as it existed when the object was created. If I had stopped the service after creating $s, $s would still show it running.  What the forum member was after was a live or linked variable to the service object. Well we can’t use a variable, but because PowerShell is object based I can use a different type of object.

PS C:\> $s={get-service wsearch}

$s is now a script block. To see the current object all I need to do is invoke it:

PS C:\> &$s

Status   Name               DisplayName
------   ----               -----------
Running  WSearch            Windows Search

I can use the variable in the pipeline:

PS C:\> &$s | stop-service -whatif
What if: Performing operation "Stop-Service" on Target "Windows Search (WSearch)".

Or, which is what the user was after, call methods that will affect the actual service object:

PS C:\> (&$s).stop()
PS C:\> (&$s).status
Stopped
PS C:\> (&$s).start()
PS C:\> (&$s).status
StartPending
PS C:\> (&$s).status
Running
PS C:\>

Invoking the $s variable gives me the actual service object in its current and live state.  I like efficiency and I can’t imagine it getting more efficient than that.

So even though a normal variable is merely a point in time snapshot, there are ways to create more lively PowerShell variables.