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PowerGUI is a free tool that allows you to create PowerShell scripts with a graphical user interface (GUI). It also comes with a nice PowerShell script editor that supports debugging. Version 1 has been available for some days already.
The main idea behind PowerGUI is to create PowerShell code by selecting objects, and performing actions on them. For instance, you can select Active Directory objects or Exchange objects manually or by using filters. Then you tell PowerGUI that you want to move these objects to a new location and it will create the corresponding PowerShell script which you can enhance with your own code.
This can be helpful for PowerShell beginners. However, you should have some basic knowledge of PowerShell or at least some experiences in object oriented programming. The real power of PowerGUI is that it helps you find the objects and their attributes easily. If you ever wrote a program to manipulate objects in a Microsoft application, then you know what I am talking about.
PowerGUIs script editor is great, too. It support syntax highlighting, autocomplete and offers bracket matching functionality. Most importantly, it comes with a nice debugger. I, personally, don’t like to write a script or program longer than five lines without a debugger at hand. The latest version supports pipeline debugging and breakpoints.
To get a quick overview of PowerGUI, I highly recommend watching this short online presentation.
PowerGUI
(8 votes, average: 3.25 out of 5)
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Very useful article Actually I was looking for
an IDE for powershell and one more IDE I found
on the internet is Powershell plus which has both commercial and free version http://www.powershell.com/plus/
What I would call scripting for the mortal man.
Sweet… I’m too lazy to learn Powershell, since I haven’t come up for a use for it, yet.
With this, I can experiment. Thanks for the heads-up!
[...] but not least is Michael’s review of PowerGUI at 4sysops – one of the best IT sites out there. It is definitely an honor for us to get reviewed on the site. [...]
Ashok, to my knowledge there is only one version of Powershell plus, but private use is for free.
Aaron, I wouldn’t go that far. It is only for mortal men who still have quite some time to live. You know, it really takes time to learn PowerShell.
Leonardo, that’s the problem with PowerShell. You have to invest a lot of time without knowing in advance if it really pays off.
I have used that tool couple of times. It is very useful indeed, I am waiting for the next version of it.
Can you suggest any other similar tool, which can be used by novice users ( no knowledge of scripting).
-Umesh