Chapter 12. Objects: the best kind of output

 

So far, the tool you’ve been building isn’t querying all the information originally specified in the design established back in chapter 8. That was a deliberate decision we made so that you could get some structure around the tool first. We’ve also held off because once you start querying a bunch of information, you need to take a specific approach to combining it, and we wanted to tackle that approach in a single chapter.

Right now, the “functional” part of the tool looks like this:

# Query data
$os = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem `
                      -CimSession $session

# Close session
$session | Remove-CimSession

# Output data
$os | Select-Object -Prop @{n='ComputerName';e={$computer}},
                        Version,ServicePackMajorVersion

You’re using Select-Object to produce the pieces of output you want. Honestly, this is a bit of a lazy cheat. You’re just reducing the information you gathered, which someone could have done entirely on their own. Let’s go back to the list of information you originally wanted, and add where you’ll get the information from:

12.1. Assembling the information

12.2. Constructing and emitting output

12.3. A quick test

12.4. An object alternative

12.5. Enriching objects

12.6. Your turn