Get all that is good about SharePoint

Get all that is good about SharePoint

A good SharePoint alternative duplicates most of the features of SharePoint, and offers many features that even SharePoint does not have (like messaging features). It may not offer the intricate application development capabilities of SharePoint, but heck, which SMB needs those?! Expect the following features in a good SharePoint alternative.

Document Management – Online document management features include the ability to organize, store and share document folders online, along with document collaboration features – document version control, access permissions, change notifications, comments etc – which let you work together on documents with remote team members. .

Intranet/Extranet Portals – Intranet publishing capabilities allow you create a customized company intranet with dedicated workspaces for groups, or partner or customer extranets to collaborate and interact with external groups like vendors, suppliers, traveling employees or customers. These tools are simple and allow you to easily and intricately customize portal design, look and layout; and add collaboration modules like shared documents, online calendars, contact management and online address books, or a project management tool. Some solutions even allow users to build entire websites.

Wikis – Wikis are web pages, which allow for collaborative authoring of content. Wikis are known to allow super simple collaboration, where a user can simply log in online, add content to a page, and it is instantly available to all other collaborators as soon as it is published.

Task Management – Task management allows team managers to create tasks, assign responsibilities, set timelines, attach resources and track progress. This is a great way to manage distributed groups and keep them accountable.

Workflows – Earlier SharePoint alternatives did not have this feature, but the better online collaboration software have added the ability to build simple web based workflows. You might not be able to build intricate applications like SharePoint, but you can automate common business tasks like CRM, order processing, support ticketing etc.

The Difference between SharePoint and Lotus Notes

The Difference between SharePoint and Lotus Notes

If you're familiar with Lotus Notes/Domino, I'm sure SharePoint, in many ways, feels like a déjà vu. But because we don't cover the Notes client or the Domino server (well, not on its own, though we cover several IBM Lotus products that run on top of Domino), I've never really compared them head-to-head.
I was discussing this with my colleague Apoorv Durga today, and rather than focus on the resemblances,
we tried to think up the most essential differences. Of course, this is comparing apples to oranges; but if you're willing to think of both as "grown in orchards" and "considered a fruit," you can, in fact, compare them:

• Notes/Domino comes with a mail server; with SharePoint, you need to add Exchange (but SharePoint and Exchange are much less integrated with each other than the Domino components, and in fact, they sometimes compete for the same collaborative scenarios.)
• A technically inclined person can quite easily build impressive forms-based processing in Notes/Domino. In SharePoint, you really need a .NET developer much more quickly than you'd think.
• But if you do start developing things, it's hard to get your Domino applications past the initial "rapid prototyping" stage -- most custom applications in Domino start out as something that's quickly whipped up, and then keeps being modified. (They're also notoriously difficult to maintain once the original creator has left your company.)
• SharePoint is much more developer friendly; Visual Studio is a very capable development environment, and though Notes/Domino does have development tools, they're comparatively basic.
• And on a very technical level: the Lotus NSF "databases" are not relational. There is no way to do a JOIN with Lotus "tables" (they're called "views" in Domino). Really. It's impossible to do a look-up in a list field to another field in another list. If you think that's some incredibly technical detail that's not very crucial, well, try to create a view of all of your employees, with one field that displays their phone number (taken from another list). You can't, and I've seen several Notes/Domino developers on the brink of a breakdown trying to get around this. By contrast, SharePoint stores everything in MS SQL; it's really easy to do lookups within a list field.

This is just what we came up with in one afternoon, and by no means as comprehensive as the comparisons in our Evaluation Reports. So what do you think? I'd welcome any additions or corrections in the comments below. Lotus Notes/Domino may be yesterday's news compared to SharePoint, but it's still alive and well in many enterprises -- and I have a nagging suspicion Apoorv and I are not the only ones comparing notes.
[Update: 07 December] Sorry about the comment on IBM phasing out Notes/Domino, which obviously didn't come across as it was intended. I've therefore decided to delete it (or rather, for the sake of transparency, to leave it there but to strike through.) My colleague
Meanwhile, thanks to those who contributed technical insights in the comments. I have some follow-up questions that I'll address there.

Lotus and SharePoint - a mea culpa and other thoughts

My colleague Adriaan mis-spoke when he said IBM was "slowly phasing out" Domino. IBM is doing no such thing. For that, I apologize. We have corrected the original post.
One has to be very wary about generalizing about Lotus, since that brand extends from the likes of Lotus WCM and Connections (which are really more closely tied to WebSphere), through Quickr, to e-mail and other groupware services, down to the Lotus thick client -- with much more in-between.
Nonetheless, I think it's worthwhile debating the larger issue of the relative profile of the Lotus/Domino stack in one of its capacities -- as a broad collaboration platform -- which was Adriaan's original intent.
Among those enterprises that have made a major commitment to Domino and Lotus for collaboration and knowledge management applications, in my experience they fall into three broad categories:

1) Those actively enhancing existing implementations across the board.
2) Those supporting their existing implementations, but not advancing them much, and retiring applications as they no longer serve their original purpose (usually over the course of many years).
3) Those pro-actively replacing Lotus/Domino collaboration and KM applications with various alternatives (also a multi-year ambition).

Although it varies by country and with enterprise size, from what I can see, the 2nd group above is the largest, and 2) and 3) together appreciably outnumber the first group in size.
This is not a blanket indictment of IBM. It is simply a recognition of a collaboration platform that has suffered competitively in the marketplace, however much Big Blue has modernized it and continues to support an impressive partner channel. As Adriaan pointed out, Domino and the Lotus stack more broadly have some advantages over SharePoint for collaboration, but Lotus-Domino is simply not matching SharePoint's growth in this part of marketplace.
If there are lessons here, they are really for those new SharePoint customers with stars in their eyes. Turning over omnibus information management to a single vendor brings higher lock-in risks. Allowing custom teamspaces and collaborative apps to proliferate willy-nilly becomes unsupportable over time. Upgrades become increasingly fraught. Availability of experienced talent can become haphazard. Big-time platforms require long-term planning -- and suitable hedging.

Open Source Alternatives To Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft Sharepoint and IBM Lotus are the industry leaders in Enterprise Content Management systems. They have good support for Enterprise to have great Intranets. However, the recent Forrester report does have references to Open Source enterprise content management systems like MindTouch who are not far behind proprietary software.

Alfresco

Alfresco is (alternative to Microsoft SharePoint) a leading open source enterprise content management system built by the most experienced team in the industry drawn from Documentum, Vignette and Interwoven. Key features of Alfresco

• Smart Spaces
• Desktop File Access
• Auditable Content
• Workflow
• Categories
• Advanced Search
• Administration
• Web content management
• Images
• Collaboration tools

Alfresco maintains everything in a central, scalable repository making it easy to maintain. Alfresco provides Wizard based configuration. It has superior browsing and searching capabilities. All these make Alfresco a good alternative to Microsoft SharePoint.

Alfresco Community Edition is free, available for Windows and Linux, and comes without any support. Of-course, you can buy the paid edition to get the complete support from Alfresco team.

MindTouch

MindTouch is an Open Source Enterprise Collaborative Networks and powers next generation intranets, extranets and knowledge bases. With MindTouch, you can do the following;

• Corporate Intranet
• Product Documentation and Knowledge Base
• Corporate Extranet
• Web Dashboards – CRM

MindTouch was cited as a Forrester Wave Strong Performer and the best product alternative to Microsoft SharePoint and IBM Lotus.

Liferay

Liferay is a social collaboration solution for the enterprise. A complete workspace streamlines communication, saves time, builds group cohesion and raises productivity. Provides single sign-on and work the way you want to, at your convenience. Liferay Community Editions are free but without support. Enterprise editions are present with a price.

Liferay Portal ships with broad product capabilities to provide immediate return on investment:

• Content & Document Management with Microsoft Office® integration
• Web Publishing and Shared Workspaces
• Enterprise Collaboration
• Social Networking and Mashups
• Enterprise Portals and Identity Management

Liferay Social Office

• Documents: Shared document repository with Microsoft Office integration
• Communication: Team calendars, webmail, task management and contact management
• Collaboration: Integrated threaded discussions, blogs, and wikis with related content and federated search
• People: Searchable LinkedIn-style User Profiles with user tagging, user search, friends, and integrated chat

Hippo CMS and Jetspeed

Jetspeed Portal can be tightly integrated with Hippo CMS, giving you an unmatched platform for personalization and content management. Jetspeed’s track record of performance, stability and its unrivaled support for open standards, can be ideal fit for the highly scalable collaborative intranet and web architectures built on Hippo’s products.

Plone

A powerful, flexible Content Management solution that is easy to install, use and extend Plone lets non-technical people create and maintain information using only a web browser. Perfect for web sites or intranets, Plone offers superior security without sacrificing extensibility or ease of use.

Collanos – Not Open Source but Free

Collanos Workplace helps you overcome information clutter by having a single space to share, interact and collaborate with your team.

MindQuarry (Not active)

Mindquarry is/was a collaborative software platform for file sharing, task and project management, team collaboration and Wiki editing that meshes simplicity and functionality.

Magnolia

Magnolia powers the websites of enterprises in more than 100 countries on all continents of the world. It is a Content Management System favoured for its ease-of-use and availability under an Open Source license. The page editing interface enables authors to lay out content exactly as it would appear to the website visitor. Under the hood, Magnolia contains best-of-breed Java technology based on open standards to allow for tailor-made solutions. Enterprise-grade support and services are available by the vendor and partners world-wide.

Further Reading:

KnowledgeTree - is PHP-based, open source document management software that is easy to install and use across a broad range of organizations. The features included in the community edition — including workflow, version control and audit trails — help manage the document lifecycle, promote collaboration, reduce paper and ensure compliance. The extensible PHP design, as well as incorporation of open standards, such as CMIS, ensure that KnowledgeTree can be easily integrated with other systems.

Mambo - is a business-oriented open source CMS written in the PHP programming language, the world’s most popular programming language for web-based applications. The flexibility of the code and inbuilt ability to extend Mambo make it one of the most powerful content management systems available today.

WebGUI - is a content management system and web application framework, which allows for easy content management, while maintaining the ability to create and install custom applications.

The top three benefits of SharePoint 2010 for IT professionals

The top three benefits of SharePoint 2010 Benefits for IT professionals

SharePoint 2010 is the business collaboration platform that enables you to connect and empower people through formal and informal business communities, within the enterprise and beyond, and to manage content throughout the information lifecycle.
For IT professionals, SharePoint 2010 offers enhancements to drive productivity, a scalable unified infrastructure, and flexible deployment. Learn more about how to cut IT costs with SharePoint 2010:

1.	Increased Productivity: SharePoint 2010 can help to increase IT professionals’ productivity by improving the administrative experience and giving administrators deeper operational insight. Features include a new streamlined Central Administration Web site, new capabilities to manage and monitor the SharePoint farm, and Windows PowerShell support.
2.	Scalable Unified Infrastructure: SharePoint 2010 provides a scalable unified infrastructure. It offers better control over server resources, which can improve processes such as performance and management of large lists and data management and protection using high availability. A scalable services architecture allows you to effectively manage and centralize services like Search, My Sites, and Taxonomy. These service applications can be managed through Central Administration and also can be managed and scripted by Windows PowerShell. Because the architecture is extensible, third-party companies can build and add services to platform.
3.	Flexible Deployment: With a quick and simple installation and configuration process, SharePoint 2010 provides a flexible deployment experience. The upgrade from SharePoint 2007 is smooth and predictable. New functionality allows you to manage how others use SharePoint. For example, you can safely allow site administrators to upload custom user code with Sandboxed Solutions. You also have more governance controls: If you want to maintain a centralized SharePoint deployment instead of taking a more decentralized approach, you can block those deployments through Group Policy or track them with AD marker support.

Related content:
WhitePaper: Collaboration without compromise – SharePoint and Office 2010
Download the SharePoint 2010 Beta today
Read through the Evaluation Guide for SharePoint 2010 IT Pro
Become a part of the SharePoint community

What Does a System Administrator Do?

A system administrator is a supreme being who maintains and troubleshoots your computer systems. Depending on the size of your organization and the complexity of your technology, a system administrator's job can range from ten hours per week to full-time.
The basic responsibilities of a system administrator are:

• staff training and support
• software installation, maintenance, and upgrading
• hardware installation, maintenance, and upgrading
• research and troubleshooting
• routine network administration and maintenance
• network documentation
• database supervision

If your system administrator also manages your network, this person should have the following skills:

• knowledge and experience with the type of network you have
• knowledge and experience with your office applications
• knowledge and experience with network software installation
• knowledge and experience with hardware installation and upgrades
• ability to teach and train about network use and software skills
• knowledge and experience with network e-mail is helpful
• dedication to appropriate uses of computer technology, including the ability to use and adapt older equipment

Some of the day-to-day support tasks a system administrator should perform include:

• performing backups of your staff's computers and of the server, if you have one
• adding and deleting new network users
• making sure that virus protection software is up-to-date, and cleaning any viruses that infect staff computers
• training and assisting staff in using hardware and software efficiently
• troubleshooting any routine problems that staff cannot fix on their own, such as a problem with the printer or a computer that freezes repeatedly

A good systems administrator keeps things working smoothly day to day, but also tries to grow with the job and improve the way the organization uses technology. For instance, a systems administrator might take an interest in learning all about the organization's database and developing better ways to automate and integrate it into the work of the organization.
Bear in mind that a systems administrator cannot solve all of your technical problems. It is normal to bring in consultants for more specialized and complicated service and support. Think of it as the difference between a general contractor and a specialty contractor. Your systems administrator can take care of most needs, but for certain things you need a specialist. Read TechSoup's Finding a Consultant  article for information on how to find the right technical consultant.

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 17

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 17

Expiration Time In my last post I looked at some Comparison Operators. Now I will examine some more Comparison Operators.
Greater than and Less than operators
The greater than operator (-gt) returns a value of TRUE or the matches when one or more of the input values is greater than the specified pattern. The less than operator (-lt) returns a value of TRUE or the matches when one or more of the input values is less than the specified pattern. When the ‘or equals to’ operators (-ge, -le) are used, they also compare to see if the value is equal to the specified pattern.
The following examples show the effects of these operators.

8 -gt 7

8 -ge 8

"c" -lt "a"

"a" -le "c"

1, 2, 3 -le 2


Containment Operators
The containment operators (-contains and -notcontains) are similar to the equality operators. However, the containment operators always return a Boolean value, even when the input is a collection.
Also, unlike the equality operators, the containment operators return a value as soon as they detect the first match. The equality operators evaluate all input and then return all the matches in the collection. In a very large collection, the -contains operator returns results quicker than the equal to operator. The following examples show the effect of the -contains operator.

1, 2, 3 -contains 2

"PowerShell" -contains "Shell"

"Windows", "PowerShell" -notcontains "Shell"


In my next post we will finish looking at Comparison Operators.

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 16

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 16

Expiration Time In my last post I looked at Assignment Operators. Now I will examine Comparison Operators.
Comparison operators let you specify conditions for comparing values and finding values that match specified patterns. To use a comparison operator, specify the values that you want to compare together with an operator that separates these values.
By default, all comparison operators are case-insensitive. To make a comparison operator case-sensitive, precede the operator name with a "c". For example, the case-sensitive version of "-eq" is "-ceq". To make the case-insensitivity explicit, precede the operator with an "i". For example, the explicitly case-insensitive version of "-eq" is "ieq".
All comparison operators except the containment operators (-contains, -notcontains) and type operators (-is, -isnot) return a Boolean value when the input to the operator (the value on the left side of the operator) is a single value (a scalar). When the input is a collection of values, the containment operators and the type operators return any matching values. If there are no matches in a collection, these operators do not return anything. The containment operators and type operators always return a Boolean value.
Windows PowerShell supports the following comparison operators.

Operator	Description
-eq	Equal to. Includes an identical value.
-ne	Not equal to. Includes a different value.
-gt	Greater-than.
-ge	Greater-than or equal to.
-lt	Less-than.
-le	Less-than or equal to.
-like	Match using the wildcard character (*).
-notlike	Does not match using the wildcard character (*).
-match	Matches a string using regular expressions. When the input is scalar, it populates the $Matches automatic variable.
-notmatch	Does not match a string. Uses regular expressions. When the input is scalar, it populates the $Matches automatic variable.
-contains	Containment operator. Includes an identical value that is not part of a value. Always returns a Boolean value.
-notcontains	Containment operator. Does not include an identical value. Always returns Boolean.
-replace	Replace operator. Changes the specified elements of a value.

Equality Operators
The equality operators (-eq, -ne) return a value of TRUE or matches when one or more of the input values is identical to the specified pattern. The entire pattern must match an entire value.
The following examples show the effect of the equal to operator:
"a" -eq "A"

"a" -ceq "A"

1, 2, 3 -eq 2

"Power" -ne "Shell"

In my next post we will examine more Comparison Operators.

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 15

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 15

Expiration Time In my last post I reviewed Arithmetic Operators. Now I will explore Assignment Operators.
Assignment operators assign one or more values to a variable and perform numeric operations on the values before the assignment. Windows PowerShell supports the following assignment operators.

Operator	Description
=	Sets the value of a variable to the specified value.
+=	Increases the value of a variable by the specified value, or appends the specified value to the existing value.
-=	Decreases the value of a variable by the specified value.
*=	Multiplies the value of a variable by the specified value, or appends the specified value to the existing value.
/=	Divides the value of a variable by the specified value.
%=	Divides the value of a variable by the specified value and then assigns the remainder (modulus) to the variable.
++	Increases the value of a variable, assignable property, or array element by 1.
–	Decreases the value of a variable, assignable property, or array element by 1.

The assignment operator (=) assigns values to variables. If the variable already has a value, the assignment operator (=) replaces the value without warning. Since the assignment operator has been mentioned multiple times in this training, no additional details are included here.
The assignment by addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division operators all work more or less the same way. For numeric types it takes the first part of the operator (+, -, *, /) and performs the appropriate calculation and then it assigns the result. For strings, it appends the specified value to the existing value. The assignment by subtraction and division operators do not work with strings. Let’s take a closer look at several of these operators.
The assignment by addition operator (+=) either increments the value of a variable or appends the specified value to the existing value. The action depends on whether the variable has a numeric or string type and whether the variable contains a single value (a scalar) or multiple values (a collection). First, it adds, and then it assigns.
$a = 5
$a += 2
$a

When the value of the variable is a string, the value on the right side of the operator is appended to the string.
$a = "String"
$a += ” Appended”
$a

The assignment by subtraction operator (-=) decrements the value of a variable by the value that is specified on the right side of the operator. This operator cannot be used with string variables and it cannot be used to remove an element from a collection. First, it subtracts, and then it assigns.
$a = 5
$a -= 2
$a

The increment operator (++) increases the value of a variable by 1. When you use the increment operator in a simple statement, no value is returned.
$a = 6
++$a
$a

The decrement operator (–) decreases the value of a variable by 1. As with the increment operator, no value is returned when you use the operator in a simple statement. Use parentheses to return a value.
$a = 6
(–$a)

In my next post we will examine Comparison Operators.

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 14

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 14

Expiration Time In my last post I reviewed arrays. Now I will explore Operators.
An operator is a language element that can be used in a command or expression to perform an operation. Windows PowerShell supports several types of operators to help you manipulate values. First, let’s look at Arithmetic operators.
Arithmetic operators calculate numeric values. Arithmetic operators are used to add, subtract, multiply, and divide values, and to calculate the remainder (modulus) of a division operation.
In addition, the addition operator (+) and multiplication operator (*) also operate on strings, arrays, and hash tables. The addition operator concatenates the input. The multiplication operator returns multiple copies of the input. You can even mix object types in an arithmetic statement. The method used to evaluate the statement is determined by the type of the leftmost object in the expression.
Windows PowerShell supports the following arithmetic operators:

Operator	Description	Example
+	Adds integers; concatenates strings, arrays, and hash tables.	6+2 “file” + “name”
-	Subtracts one value from another value.	6-2 (get-date).date – 1
-	Makes a number a negative number.	-6+2 -4
*	Multiplies integers; copies strings and arrays the specified number of times.	6*2 “w” * 3
/	Divides two values.	6/2
%	Returns the remainder of a division operation.	7%2

Windows PowerShell processes arithmetic operators in the following order:
· Parentheses ()
· – (for a negative number)
· *, /, %
· +, – (for subtraction)
Windows PowerShell processes the expressions from left to right according to the precedence rules. The following examples show the effect of the precedence rules:
3+6/3*4

10+4/2

(10+4)/2

(3+3)/(1+1)

You can also do this with non-numeric types. Numbers, strings, arrays, and hash tables can be added; numbers, strings, and arrays can be multiplied. However, you cannot multiply hash tables.
When adding strings, arrays, or hash tables, the elements are concatenated. When you concatenate collections, such as arrays or hash tables, a new object is created that contains the objects from both collections. If you try to concatenate hash tables that have the same key, the operation fails.
For example, the following commands creates two strings and then adds them:
$a = "1"
$b = "A"
$a + $b

In my next post we will examine assignment operators.

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 13

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 13

Expiration Time In my last post I looked at some basic variable types. Now I will examine arrays.
An array is a data structure for storing a collection of data elements of the same type. Basically this means that you can have a single variable that stores multiple values.
Assign multiple values to a variable to create and initialize an array. The values stored in the array are delimited with a comma and separated from the variable name by the assignment operator (=).
For example, to create an array named $a that contains the seven numeric (int) values of 22, 5, 10, 8, 12, 9, and 80, type:
$a = 20,4,11,3,1,9,60

When no data type is specified, Windows PowerShell creates each array as an object array (type: object[]). You can create a strongly typed array, that is, an array that can contain only values of a particular type, the same way you create a strongly typed variable. You specify a type, such as string[], long[], or int32[]. Precede the variable name with an array type enclosed in brackets to cast an array.
[int32[]]$ia = 1500,2230,3350,4000

Simply type the array name to display all the elements in the array. For example:
$ia

You can refer to the elements in an array by using an index, beginning at position 0. Enclose the index number in brackets. For example, to display the third element in the $a array, type:
$ia[2]

You can create arrays that are cast to any supported type in the Microsoft .NET Framework. For example, the objects that Get-Process retrieves to represent processes are of the System.Diagnostics.Process type. Enter the following command to create a strongly typed array of process objects.
[Diagnostics.Process[]]$gp = Get-Process

Then, display the contents of $gp to see a list of running processes.
$gp

In my next post we will review operators and expressions.

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 12

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 12

Expiration Time In my last post I began looking at variables. Now I will go over types and how they function.
Windows PowerShell supports a number of different types such as strings, integers, arrays, etc. You can explicitly specify a type or allow Windows PowerShell to do it dynamically, which is sometimes referred to as automatic type conversion. Type conversions are used when an object of one type is assigned a value that requires another type (such as adding a string to a number). This conversion happens automatically as long as the type was not specified manually, and it is not destructive to the original object.
For example we can assign a new value to the $Loc variable which currently has the System.Management.Automation.PathInfo type, and then use the GetType method to show its new type.
$Loc = "Test"
$Loc.GetType().FullName

Then, assign it a numeric value and check the type again.
$Loc = 3
$Loc.GetType().FullName

$Loc was made an Int32 because the value wasn’t enclosed in quotes and because the value was composed solely of digits. Had it been in quotes, it would have been interpreted as a System.String.
In both cases, Windows PowerShell determined the data type that was the most appropriate for the value of the variable. This should work for most variables but there may be situations where you want the variable type to remain as it is. Suppose you are reading values out of a file and you always want the values to be treated as strings. Some of the values, however, might contain only digits, raising the possibility that Windows PowerShell would treat them as Int32 or another numeric type, which may create problems for your script. If Windows PowerShell does not recognize the value as a string, then all the methods of the System.String class are not available (and your script might rely on one of these unavailable methods).
Manually assigning a type is simple and is done when you create it. Assigning a string to a variable essentially forces the variable to be of the System.String class. Assigning a number to a variable, on the other hand, usually results in the variable becoming an Integer (or, more specifically, an Int32, which can store a specific range of values). For example, we can create a new variable and define it as a string.
[String]$var = 5
$Var.GetType().FullName

Normally, $Var would have been an Int32, but because we defined it as a String, it makes the numeric value we assigned to it a string.
Forcibly declaring variables does have repercussions, though they are not necessarily bad. In the next example, a new variable is created, defined as an integer, and assigned a numeric value. Then, it is assigned a string value.
[Int]$Num = 4
$Num = "test"

As shown above, when we tried to assign a string value to it, an error message was displayed. Because $Num was defined as a Int32, Windows PowerShell expected to convert the string “test” into an integer value. It was unable to do this, nor was it able to change the type of $Num to String.
In my next post we continue to look at types.

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 11

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 11

Expiration Time In my last post I reviewed the Out-Gridview cmdlet. Now I will look at variables.
Windows PowerShell lets you create variables – essentially named objects – to preserve output for later use. The Windows PowerShell variables are actually mapped to underlying classes in the Microsoft® .NET Framework. In the Framework, variables are objects, meaning they can store data and also manipulate it in many ways.
Variables are always specified with the initial character $ and can include a mix of letters, numbers, symbols, or even spaces. However, if spaces are used, the variable needs to be enclosed in braces, such as: ${My Variable} = “Hello”). Variables are created by typing a valid variable name or assigning a value to it. A variable name should help you remember what it contains, using a simple, straight-forward name.
$Loc = Get-Location

Output is not displayed when this command is entered, because the output is sent to $Loc. In Windows PowerShell, displayed output is a side effect of the fact that data which is not otherwise directed always gets sent to the screen. Typing $Loc shows its value, which in this case is the current location.
$Loc

Get-Member is used to display information about the contents of variables. Get-Member enumerates the properties and methods of that object type. Piping $Loc to Get-Member shows that it is a PathInfo object, just like the output from Get-Location.
$Loc | Get-Member

There is also a default variable that can be used for certain situations. The $_ acts a placeholder for the current object. This can be used to access the properties or methods of the current object in a command. For example we can use $_ to help filter the output of the Get-Service cmdlet, displaying only services that have a status of Running.
Get-Service | where {$_.status -eq "Running"}

In my next post we continue to look at variables and types.

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 10

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 10

Expiration Time In my last post I reviewed some the format cmdlets. Now I will play with the Out-Gridview cmdlet.
Windows PowerShell 2.0 provides a few new tools that help to treat you more like a human than a machine. For example, by using the Out-Gridview cmdlet after retrieving a list of items, you can have the output is pipelined to a separate window (Graphic 24).
Get-Service | Out-Gridview


From this window, the list can be sorted by clicking the column header. However, this is output from the command, not the objects themselves, preventing any manipulation directly from this window. For example, you cannot right-click an item here to get a context menu to appear in order to stop or start a service.

The PowerShell grid also includes a rudimentary filtering function, showing only those services whose returned data includes a specified keyword. Simply type that keyword in the text box labeled Search. After entering the keyword, the grid filters out any items that do not include that keyword in at least one of the columns.

If you want to limit the filter to a specific column, type the column name followed by a colon, and then the filter string, reducing the results to four services on the computer in this example.

In my next post we get into variables and types.

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 9

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 9

Expiration Time In my last post I wrapped up the format cmdlets. Now I will take a look at the output cmdlets.
Windows PowerShell provides several cmdlets that let you control data output directly. These cmdlets share two important characteristics.
First, they generally transform data to some form of text. They do this because they output the data to system components that require text input. This means they need to represent the objects as text. Therefore, the text is formatted as you see it in the Windows PowerShell console window.
Second, these cmdlets use the Windows PowerShell verb Out because they send information out from Windows PowerShell to somewhere else. The Out-Host cmdlet is no exception: the host window display is outside of Windows PowerShell. This is important because when data is sent out of Windows PowerShell, it is actually removed. Because of this, any output cmdlets needs to be put at the end of the pipeline, otherwise the data is sent out of Windows PowerShell and any subsequent commands will have nothing to process.
The Output cmdlets are Out-Default, Out-File, Out-GridView, Out-Host, Out-Null, Out-Printer, and Out-String.
Output can be sent to a file by using the Out-File cmdlet. The following command line sends a list of services to the file C:\temp\serviceslist.txt:
Get-Service | Out-File -FilePath C:\temp\serviceslist.txt

The results of using the Out-File cmdlet may not be what you expect if you are used to traditional output redirection. You must be aware of the context in which the Out-File cmdlet operates to understand its behavior.
By default, the Out-File cmdlet creates a Unicode file. This is the best default in the long run, but it means that tools that expect ASCII files will not work correctly with the default output format. The Out-file formats file contents to look like console output, causing the output to be truncated just as it is in a console window in most circumstances.
The Out-Null cmdlet is designed to immediately discard any input it receives, which is useful for discarding unnecessary data obtained as a side-effect of running a command. When entering the following command (Graphic 22), the command results stating that the directory was created are not delivered.
New-Item -Path C:\ -Name test -Type Directory | Out-Null

The Out-Printer cmdlet routes the output to the specified printer. The Out-String cmdlet converts the objects that Windows PowerShell manages into an array of strings. By default, Out-String accumulates the strings and returns them as a single string, but you can use the stream parameter to direct Out-String to return one string at a time. This cmdlet lets you search and manipulate string output as you would in traditional shells when object manipulation is less convenient.

In my next post we will look at the Out-Gridview cmdlet.

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 8

Using Windows PowerShell as an IT Pro – Part 8

Expiration Time In my last post I talked about the format cmdlets. Now I will continue to examine the format cmdlets.
Using the Format-Table cmdlet with no property names specified to format the output of the Get-Process command, provides exactly the same output returned without performing any formatting. The reason is that processes are usually displayed in a tabular format, as are most Windows PowerShell objects.
The displayed properties can be controlled by any of the format cmdlets by leveraging the property parameter. In this example, the format of the table displays with three specific properties.
Get-Service m* | Format-Table -Property Status, Name, ServiceType

Before I show an example of a more advanced formatting command, let’s look at some sorting. The Sort-Object cmdlet sorts objects in ascending or descending order based on the values of properties of the object.
You can specify a single property or multiple properties (for a multi-key sort) and you can select a case-sensitive or case-insensitive sort. You can also direct Sort-Object to display only the objects with a unique value for a particular property. This command displays a sort of services by status.
Get-Service m* | Sort-Object Status

You can also perform advanced formatting by combining formatting commands and adding some grouping. This command sorts the service list by status, before passing the output to the format-table command, which groups the output by status. In the displayed output the stopped and running services are grouped together, and under each status is a table containing the name and display name of each service.
Get-Service m* | Sort-Object Status | Format-Table –Group Status -Property Name, DisplayName

In my next post we will look at the Output commands.