Boost PowerShell efficiency: How to use enums for cleaner code

Tired of cryptic number codes cluttering your PowerShell scripts? Discover how PowerShell enums can transform your code into self-documenting, error-resistant masterpieces while unlocking powerful IntelliSense features that will revolutionize your scripting workflow.

Using enums in PowerShell

Class support was added to PowerShell in 2016 but is still not widely adopted – event though it can be very simple and very powerful.

Often scripts use simple numbers that can be cryptic, hard to understand, and error-prone:

# unstructured

$logLevel = 3

Enums are a perfect strategy to manage lists of values and provide friendly names to them:

# strictly-typed

enum MyLogLevel

{

   No

   Info

   Verbose

   Debug

   All

}

$logLevel = [MyLogLevel]::Info

$logLevel

if ($logLevel -eq 'Info') { "INFO active" }

Internally, each enum is still a number, but user-friendly names help to understand the purpose, and the enum ensures that only valid numbers can be used:

• PS C:\> [MyLogLevel]::Info -as [int]
   

Once you start using enums, this also improves usability. PowerShell automatically turns enums into IntelliSense menus. Here is a function called Write-LogMessage that illustrates this:

enum MyLogLevel

{

   No

   Info

   Verbose

   Debug

   All

}



function Write-LogMessage 

{

   [CmdletBinding()]

   param

   (

      [string][Parameter(Mandatory)]$Message,

      [MyLogLevel]$logLevel = 'Info'

      )

      '{0:yyyyMMddHHmmss} {1,-7} {2}' -f (Get-Date), $logLevel, $Message

} 

Part two of using enumerations in PowerShell is online, too. Click here to read the next tip for enums!

Related links 

• Using enums, part two
• Try out ScriptRunner here
• ScriptRunner: Book a demo with our product experts