Section 1.2. Get to Know Verb-Noun Syntax and Cmdlets

1.2. Get to Know Verb-Noun Syntax and Cmdlets

We'll begin by getting the shell up and running so that we can start to put MSH through its paces. This section will focus on the time-honored task of inspecting the process list to see what's currently running on a system. There are some MSH features that may not be immediately familiar to those in other command shellsin particular, the strict command syntaxbut we'll also look at a few of the obvious differences and see how they're really nothing to fear.

These basics show you how to start using the shell, and they provide the foundation for the rest of the examples we'll cover.

1.2.1. How Do I Do That?

Most MSH commands are identified by a pair of words, one verb and one noun, separated by a hyphen. The verb describes the action (such as get or set) while the noun represents the target of the action in singular form (such as process or location). There is a standard list of verbs that covers the majority of tasks (including get, set, add, and remove). Although the number of these verbs may seem excessively large, consistent naming does make learning and using MSH easier in the long run.

There's Nothing Like Experience

The best way to learn more about MSH is to start using it. Begin with simple taskssuch as viewing the task list and folder structureand then start experimenting. Be careful, though, because some cmdlets can have significant impact. For example, if you ask MSH to delete all of your files, it will do so without remorse. As we'll see in Chapter 2, adding the -WhatIf command-line option will perform a "dry run" in which MSH tells you what it would do without really doing it.

Let's begin by starting the shell. From the Start menu, select Run and type MSH. You'll see a console window open up with a small introduction:

     Microsoft Command Shell     Copyright (C) 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.     MSH D:\MshScripts>

MSH is waiting for its first command. The MSH shell is in interactive mode with the current directory set to D:\MshScripts. We'll look at the different modes of operation in more detail later on. For now, the shell will execute commands line-by-line as they are entered.

1.2.1.1. Running a first command

We'll use the get-process cmdlet to generate a list of currently active processes within the system:

     MSH D:\MshScripts> get-process     Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K) VS(M)   CPU(s)     Id ProcessName     -------  ------    -----      ----- -----   ------     -- -----------         119       6      996       3336    31     0.22   1844  alg         602      12    10408      15816    64    18.96   1656  CcmExec         409       5     1648       3364    22    16.23    464  csrss         273      11     7376      12696    55   340.16    212  explorer           0       0        0         16     0               0  Idle         146      11     3532       7284    61     2.90   1264  InoRpc         110       5    11136      12404    60     9.33   1316  InoRT         107       5     2820       6244    53     4.22   1332  InoTask         405      10     4404        528    41    11.66    544  lsass         290      12    33948      32208   175    14.90   3088  msh     ...

You can use a command line or argument to reduce the number of processes get-process returns. Given something to match against, get-process will compare the process name of each process, only allowing matching ones to be displayed. Let's take a look at all processes beginning with the letter "r" or "s":

     MSH D:\MshScripts> get-process [rs]*     Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K) VS(M)   CPU(s)     Id ProcessName     -------  ------    -----      ----- -----   ------     -- -----------          96       4     1772       4972    43    54.60   1200  Realmon         260       6     1260       2840    24    13.38    532  services          21       1      168        368     4     0.57    308  smss          96       4     2428       3208    26     0.32   1088  spoolsv         207       6     2056       4312    35     4.41    940  svchost         251      13     1472       3968    34     8.20    756  svchost        1665      50    14648      22040    98    44.27    824  svchost         183       5     2280       4440    57     0.64    720  svchost          85       4     1036       2968    28     2.44    896  svchost         284       0        0        216     2    64.20      4  System

get-process will accept another parameter called Exclude. This is used to filter certain processes from the results list. This time, we'll find all processes starting with the letter "w," except those that start with the three letters "win":

     MSH D:\MshScripts> get-process w* -Exclude win*     Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K) VS(M)   CPU(s)     Id ProcessName     -------  ------    -----      ----- -----   ------     -- -----------         125       4     1300       3624    23     0.82    320  wmiprvse         137       4     3388       4156    25     1.36   1920  wmiprvse         221       7     6352       7868    65     2.60   1708  wuauclt

1.2.2. What Just Happened?

Let's take a step back and look at what we've just witnessed. To better understand how get-process works, let's start from the top.

1.2.2.1. What is a cmdlet?

Cmdlets (pronounced "command-lets") are one of the fundamental parts of the functionality of MSH. Cmdlets range from the very simple to the very complex, but all are designed to do a single task and to do it well. MSH provides a framework within which these cmdlets can be run, effectively providing the plumbing for passing information between different pipeline elements. Cmdlets are not designed to be monolithic giants that completely solve any given problem; instead, their power derives from compositiontheir use in concert with other cmdlets. A well-designed cmdlet focuses on doing one job in a clear and predictable manner. We'll be talking a lot more about cmdlets and composition going forward.

A cmdlet is implemented as a managed class (built on the .NET Framework) that implements a well-defined set of methods to process data.

1.2.2.2. Why the verb-noun model?

Although the verb-noun syntax may seem slightly foreign or even cumbersome, there are rewards in its consistency. Because we already know how to list active processes with the get-process command, it's only a small jump to manipulate processes by using other verbs, for example stop-process and new-process. The symmetry in cmdlet naming helps to group commands based on either task or target, which makes it easy to use other related cmdlets by picking one of the set of common verbs. It's worth noting that the verb-noun requirement applies only to cmdlets; as we meet other MSH concepts such as functions, scripts, and aliases, we'll see that they are not subject to the same strict syntax.

If you're concerned that get-process requires more keystrokes than tasklist (its nearest cmd.exe equivalent), or that get-childitem is significantly longer than dir, rest assured that there are shortcuts in the form of command aliases . We look into aliases in more detail in Chapter 2. For now, we'll continue to use the long form as it generally improves the readability of scripts.

All nouns have a default verb, get, which is assumed if no verb is given. In other words, the command process will behave in exactly the same manner as get-process.

1.2.3. What About...

In itself, generating a process list isn't rocket science. tlist.exe, part of the Windows Resource Kit, has been offering this functionality for years. However, the MSH version is going to enable us to do a lot more. In the next few examples, we'll see how this cmdlet can be combined with others to offer some flexible process list reporting.

We'll look at wildcards in Chapter 4, but it is worth mentioning now that the [rs]* and win* style syntax used here isn't restricted to the get-process cmdlet. In fact, it is actually MSH that interprets the command-line parameters (not the cmdlets), and the shell extends this kind of wildcard support and parsing consistency throughout.

1.2.4. Where Can I Learn More?

The get-help cmdlet is the portal into the built-in help system for MSH . By simply giving it a cmdlet name, a help page covering the syntax and usage will be shown:

     MSH D:\MshScripts> get-help get-process     NAME         get-process     SYNOPSIS         Gets a list of processes on a machine.     DETAILED DESCRIPTION         The get-process Cmdlet gets a list of the process running on a machine         and displays it to the console along with the process properties.         This command also supports the ubiquitous parameters:         -Debug (-db), -ErrorAction (-ea), -ErrorVariable (-ev)         -OutBuffer (-ob), -OutVariable (-ov), and -Verbose (-vb)     SYNTAX         get-process [-ProcessName] [processName] [-Id processId]         ...

Calling get-help without any parameters generates an overview of the available help topics. Specific help information is available by supplying a topic or cmdlet name.

The get-command cmdlet provides a mechanism for listing all cmdlets registered with the shell, including their signature, parameter list, and description.

Since we're on the quick tour, let's take a look at one of the new aspects of MSH: the ability to treat arbitrary data stores like regular filesystems by way of a provider model.