PrimalScript 2009 has expanded its support for SQL in several major ways. Primary among these are the addition of SQL PrimalSense and the ability to edit and save stored procedures directly within a database. Let’s take a quick look at some of these new features. Before you can work with SQL, you should first create […]
Category: Howto
More missed features
On our beta survey we ask for the ONE feature users wish for, if any. Here is another great example of how sometimes you can miss a thing. A participant in this survey wrote “A second window (viewport) to the file similar to Excel.” Now, I don’t really remember when we started having that, I […]
Objects at Rest
Snippets in PrimalScript have always been easy to use. For instance, typing the name of a snippet and immediately pressing Ctrl-J, inserts the named snippet at the caret location. You can also drag a snippet from the snippet browser and drop it in the edit window at any location of your choosing. Creating a snippet […]
It’s in the service builds.
In our current beta tester survey we included the following question: “Last but not least, if there is ONE feature you could convince us to add, what would that be?” One user replied that he would like PrimalSense for PowerShell parameters as soon as he types a – character and that already used parameters are […]
Where do I begin?
“I’m new to scripting and need a book recommendation.” “Should I learn VBScript or PowerShell?” “What are some good books for learning scripting?”
These are natural and common questions. A few years ago the answers would have been simple. But today if you are just getting started with administrative scripting, the answers only bring more questions. The real question isn’t what book should you read but what technology should you learn? If you are a a SAPIEN blog reader I’m going to assume that the choice comes down to VBScript or PowerShell. The quick answer is to learn both, but I realize that’s not practical. So let’s look at this a bit further and realize that some of this will change once PowerShell v2.0 is released as part of Windows 7 and depending on your adoption of Windows 7.
PrimalScript Packaged PrimalForm PowerShell
I hope you’ve been playing with the free PrimalForms tool and started creating some useful PowerShell tools. Here’s a technique you might want to explore if you are using PrimalScript. If you’ve used the PrimalScript for awhile you likely are aware of the script packaging feature. You can use it to package your PowerShell scripts into an EXE file. Remember though, PowerShell needs to be installed wherever you may want to execute your package. But once packaged, launching the file will display your WinForm based script. Let me show you some ways to leverage script packaging and PowerShell scripts.
Getting Started with PrimalForms
I hope you are as excited about the release of PrimalForms as I am. In the past creating a Windows form in PowerShell was a very tedious task and one I rarely used except for the most simplest of forms. No more. The free PrimalForms tool lets me create a very rich Windows form using a WYSIWYG editor. I can export the form to a file, add my PowerShell code and call it a day.
PrimalScript: Did you know about Alt-X?
In the versions of PrimalScript that support PowerShell, you’ve likely executed your PowerShell scripts completely within the editor. You can configure the editor to capture the output to a tab or to new PowerShell session. But did you know you don’t have to run the entire script?
TurboChargeAD.org
I’ll be adding yet another writing gig to my portfolio. This time I’ll be contributing a bi-weekly blog column at TurboChargeAD.org. The site is run by Quest Software with contributions from many members of the IT Pro and PowerShell community that you are likely familiar with like Don Jones, Brandon Shell, and Darren Mar-Elia, to name a few.
PrimalScript: Did you know about Snippets?
I’d like to think that Primalscript’s Snippets feature is one of its more well known features, but I think I take it for granted. Primalscript ships with a large number of language specific snippets that you can freely incorporate into your work. Depending on your configuration, you may or may not see the Snippets browser panel on the left side of the IDE. If you can’t find it, go to View – Browser Panels and select Snippets Browser.
