Intro to Microsoft Dialog Boxes in PowerShell

[Guest Brien Posey]

Learn how to create GUIs in PowerShell that use Microsoft dialog boxes. Part 1 of this series explains the benefits of using dialog boxes and how to get started.

 

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[Trips]

Creating GUIs in PowerShell that utilize Microsoft dialog boxes can be done using Windows Forms or WPF. Below, I'll provide a simple example using Windows Forms to demonstrate how to create a GUI with dialog boxes.

Example: Simple PowerShell GUI with Dialog Boxes

This example creates a form with a button that, when clicked, opens a message box and a file dialog.

# Load the required assembly Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms # Create the form $form = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form $form.Text = "PowerShell GUI Example" $form.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(300,200) # Create a button $buttonMessageBox = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button $buttonMessageBox.Text = "Show Message" $buttonMessageBox.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(50,50) $buttonMessageBox.Add_Click({ [System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show("Hello, this is a message box!", "Message Box Title") }) # Create another button for file dialog $buttonFileDialog = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button $buttonFileDialog.Text = "Open File Dialog" $buttonFileDialog.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(50,100) $buttonFileDialog.Add_Click({ $openFileDialog = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog $openFileDialog.Title = "Select a File" $openFileDialog.Filter = "All Files (*.*)|*.*" if ($openFileDialog.ShowDialog() -eq [System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult]::OK) { [System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show("You selected: " + $openFileDialog.FileName, "File Selected") } }) # Add buttons to the form $form.Controls.Add($buttonMessageBox) $form.Controls.Add($buttonFileDialog) # Show the form $form.Add_Shown({$form.Activate()}) [void]$form.ShowDialog()

How to Run the Script

1. Open PowerShell ISE or any PowerShell editor.
2. Copy and paste the script above into the editor.
3. Run the script.

Description of the Code

• Add-Type: Loads the Windows Forms assembly.
• Form: Creates a new form window.
• Buttons: Two buttons are created; one shows a message box and the other opens a file dialog.
• Event Handlers: The Add_Click method attaches event handlers to the buttons to define what happens when they are clicked.
• MessageBox: Displays a message box with a custom message.
• OpenFileDialog: Opens a file dialog for the user to select a file.

This script provides a basic framework for creating GUIs in PowerShell using Microsoft dialog boxes. You can expand upon this by adding more controls and functionalities as needed.