Appendix B: Cmdlet Naming

The cmdlets installed with Windows PowerShell all follow a standard naming convention. In general, they use a verb–noun pair. For example, there are four commands that start with the verb add. “Add what?” you may ask. This is where the noun comes into play: Add-Content, Add-History, Add-Member, and Add-PSSnapin. When creating cmdlets, you should endeavor to follow the same kind of naming convention. The recognition of this naming convention is helpful in learning the cmdlets that come with Windows PowerShell.

Table B-1: Cmdlet Naming
Open table as spreadsheet

Count	Verb	Examples
4	Add	Add-Content, Add-History, Add-Member
4	Clear	Clear-Content, Clear-Item
1	Compare	Compare-Object
1	ConvertFrom	ConvertFrom-SecureString
1	Convert	Convert-Path
2	ConvertTo	ConvertTo-Html, ConvertTo-SecureString
2	Copy	Copy-Item, Copy-ItemProperty
4	Export	Export-Alias, Export-Clixml, Export-Console
1	ForEach	ForEach-Object
4	Format	Format-Custom, Format-List, Format-Table
29	Get	Get-Acl, Get-Alias
1	Group	Group-Object
3	Import	Import-Clixml, Import-Csv
3	Invoke	Invoke-Expression, Invoke-History
1	Join	Join-Path
2	Measure	Measure-Command, Measure-Object
2	Move	Move-Item, Move-ItemProperty
8	New	New-Alias, New-Item, New-ItemProperty
6	Out	Out-Default, Out-File, Out-Host
1	Pop	Pop-Location
1	Push	Push-Location
1	Read	Read-Host
5	Remove	Remove-Item, Remove-ItemProperty
2	Rename	Rename-Item, Rename-ItemProperty
1	Resolve	Resolve-Path
1	Restart	Restart-Service
1	Resume	Resume-Service
2	Select	Select-Object, Select-String
13	Set	Set-Acl, Set-Alias
1	Sort	Sort-Object
1	Split	Split-Path
3	Start	Start-Service, Start-Sleep, Start-Transcript
3	Stop	Stop-Process, Stop-Service, Stop-Transcript
1	Suspend	Suspend-Service
1	Tee	Tee-Object
1	Test	Test-Path
1	Trace	Trace-Command
2	Update	Update-FormatData, Update-TypeData
1	Where	Where-Object
7	Write	Write-Debug, Write-Error, Write-Host