{"id":8693,"date":"2021-12-03T10:14:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T15:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jdhitsolutions.com\/blog\/?p=8693"},"modified":"2021-12-03T10:14:39","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T15:14:39","slug":"exporting-powershell-functions-to-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jdhitsolutions.com\/blog\/powershell\/8693\/exporting-powershell-functions-to-files\/","title":{"rendered":"Exporting PowerShell Functions to Files"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I write a PowerShell module, it typically includes more than one export function. Where you store your module functions is a great discussion topic and I don't think there is necessarily one best practice for everyone. I think it might depend on the number and complexity of the functions. Are other people contributing code to the module? How are you using Pester? These are just a few questions to consider. In my work, sometimes the functions are in the .psm1 file. Some projects have a public.ps1 file with several functions. In more complex projects, like my PSScriptTools <\/a>module, each function gets a separate file. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My challenge arises when I decide to separate out all the functions defined in a single file. I want each function to reside in its own file, using the function name as the file name. I got tired of doing this manually, so I wrote a PowerShell function to do the work for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the AST<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PowerShell uses a coding concept called the \"abstract syntax tree\", or AST. The AST makes it possible to parse a PowerShell expression or even a file. Using the AST is definitely advanced PowerShell scripting juju.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New-Variable astTokens -Force\nNew-Variable astErr -Force\n$AST = [System.Management.Automation.Language.Parser]::ParseFile($Path, [ref]$astTokens, [ref]$astErr)<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Depending on what you are abstracting, you may be able to get exactly what you want from the immediate parsing. In my case, I needed to search within the AST result for a specific type of command element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$functions = $ast.FindAll({ $args[0] -is [System.Management.Automation.Language.FunctionDefinitionAst] }, $true)<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In my example, I found these functions in the file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
I'll point out that the function names that don't follow the Verb-Noun naming convention are class constructors. Although they could also be private helper functions with typically use non-standard names since they are never exposed publically. More on how I handle this in a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each function element is its own object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
As you can see, it is pretty easy to get the function text.  It is even easier if I use the ToString() method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
 Set-Content -path \"d:\\temp\\$($functions[-1].name).ps1\" -Value $functions[-1].ToString()<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Testing Function Names<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
As I was building my export tool, I realized I needed a way to skip functions that probably will never be publicly exposed. So I wrote a simple function to test a function name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Function Test-FunctionName {\n    [CmdletBinding()]\n    [OutputType(\"boolean\")]\n    Param(\n    [Parameter(Position = 0,Mandatory,HelpMessage = \"Specify a function name.\")]\n    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]\n    [string]$Name\n    )\n\n    Write-Verbose \"Validating function name $Name\"\n    #Function name must first follow Verb-Noun pattern\n    if ($Name -match \"^\\w+-\\w+$\") {\n        #validate the standard verb\n        $verb = ($Name -split \"-\")[0]\n        Write-Verbose \"Validating detected verb $verb\"\n        if ((Get-Verb).verb -contains $verb ) {\n            $True\n        }\n        else {\n            Write-Verbose \"$($Verb.ToUpper()) is not an approved verb.\"\n            $False\n        }\n    }\n    else {\n        Write-Verbose \"$Name does not match the regex pattern ^\\w+-\\w+$\"\n        $False\n    }\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
I know this could have been a one-line command, but I wanted to add an explanation on why a function name would fail. The function takes a name and first tests if it matches the \"Word-Word\" pattern. If that passes, then the function tests if the \"verb\" is a standard verb. If so, the name passes the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Exporting Functions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Time to put this all together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Function Export-FunctionFromFile {\n    [cmdletbinding(SupportsShouldProcess)]\n    [alias(\"eff\")]\n    [OutputType(\"None\", \"System.IO.FileInfo\")]\n    Param(\n        [Parameter(Position = 0, Mandatory, HelpMessage = \"Specify the .ps1 or .psm1 file with defined functions.\")]\n        [ValidateScript({\n                If (Test-Path $_ ) {\n                    $True\n                }\n                Else {\n                    Throw \"Can't validate that $_ exists. Please verify and try again.\"\n                    $False\n                }\n            })]\n        [ValidateScript({\n                If ($_ -match \"\\.ps(m)?1$\") {\n                    $True\n                }\n                Else {\n                    Throw \"The path must be to a .ps1 or .psm1 file.\"\n                    $False\n                }\n            })]\n        [string]$Path,\n        [Parameter(HelpMessage = \"Specify the output path. The default is the same directory as the .ps1 file.\")]\n        [ValidateScript({ Test-Path $_ })]\n        [string]$OutputPath,\n        [Parameter(HelpMessage = \"Export all detected functions.\")]\n        [switch]$All,\n        [Parameter(HelpMessage = \"Pass the output file to the pipeline.\")]\n        [switch]$Passthru\n    )\n    Write-Verbose \"Starting $($MyInvocation.MyCommand)\"\n\n    #always create these variables\n    New-Variable astTokens -Force -WhatIf:$False\n    New-Variable astErr -Force -WhatIf:$False\n\n    if (-Not $OutputPath) {\n        #use the parent path of the file unless the user specifies a different path\n        $OutputPath = Split-Path -Path $Path -Parent\n    }\n\n    Write-Verbose \"Processing $path for functions\"\n    #the file will always be parsed regardless of WhatIfPreference\n    $AST = [System.Management.Automation.Language.Parser]::ParseFile($Path, [ref]$astTokens, [ref]$astErr)\n\n    #parse out functions using the AST\n    $functions = $ast.FindAll({ $args[0] -is [System.Management.Automation.Language.FunctionDefinitionAst] }, $true)\n\n    if ($functions.count -gt 0) {\n        Write-Verbose \"Found $($functions.count) functions\"\n        Write-Verbose \"Creating files in $outputpath\"\n        Foreach ($item in $functions) {\n            Write-Verbose \"Detected function $($item.name)\"\n            #only export functions with standard namees or if -All is detected.\n            if ($All -OR (Test-FunctionName -name $item.name)) {\n                $newfile = Join-Path -Path $OutputPath -ChildPath \"$($item.name).ps1\"\n                Write-Verbose \"Creating new file $newFile\"\n                Set-Content -Path $newFile -Value $item.ToString() -Force\n                if ($Passthru -AND (-Not $WhatIfPreference)) {\n                    Get-Item -Path $newfile\n                }\n            }\n            else {\n                Write-Verbose \"Skipping $($item.name)\"\n            }\n        } #foreach item\n    }\n    else {\n        Write-Warning \"No functions detected in $Path.\"\n    }\n    Write-Verbose \"Ending $($MyInvocation.MyCommand)\"\n} #end function<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
By default, the function will only export functions with standard names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
If you look closely at the Verbose output you'll see that the detected non-standard functions are skipped. Although I can include all detected functions if I need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The function allows me to specify an alternate location for the new files, although the default is the source file's parent directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The source file is unaffected, although I suppose I could modify the function to delete code from the file. For now, I'll manually update the source file and any other module files to reflect the new function files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I have both functions in the same file which I dot source. Although I might add these functions to the PSScriptTools module at some point in the future. The export function assumes the file is a .ps1 or .psm1 file. You can see the parameter validation I'm using in the code. Give it a try and let me know what you think. The code should work in Windows PowerShell and PowerShell 7.x. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I write a PowerShell module, it typically includes more than one export function. Where you store your module functions is a great discussion topic and I don’t think there is necessarily one best practice for everyone. I think it might depend on the number and complexity of the functions. Are other people contributing code…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"New on the blog: Exporting #PowerShell Functions to Files","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[447,224,534,540],"class_list":["post-8693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-powershell","category-scripting","tag-ast","tag-function","tag-powershell","tag-scripting"],"yoast_head":"\nExporting PowerShell Functions to Files • The Lonely Administrator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When working on a PowerShell module, I sometimes want to export functions in a single file to multiple files. 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