How long can a variable name be in PowerShell?

Well, that is a good question. Before I answer this, let’s just cover a few best practices when it comes to naming variables.

Choose a variable name that gives you an idea of what is stored in the variable.
Use letters, numbers, and “_” in your names.
Do not use spaces. They really make things look bad.

Now, about how long can they be? I wrote a little function to help be create long strings of random characters and the I used that string as the name of my variable.

Function New-String

{

Param ($Length)

$String = ""

For ($X=0;$X -lt $Length; $X++)

{

$String += [char]((Get-Random(26))+65)

}

Write-Output $String

}

New-String 10000

I copied this string into memory. I then typed a dollar sign and pasted this string. Automatic carriage returns were added by the ISE so I had to go to the end of the string and press Delete a few times to get it all back on the same line. I then added = “Hello”. Below is a screen shot of my ISE. Take notice of the column number.

I pressed enter and it accepted it. I hit the up arrow and removed ‘'= “Hello” and pressed enter. The contents of the variable dumped to the host. In short, you can go up to 10,000 characters and more in a variable name.

The Variable drive truncates it when you look at it.

Should you do this??? Absolutely not. This is just an exercise to show you that you do not have to worry about the length of a variable. You just need to make sure it makes sense and is readable to others who may view your code.

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Sticky Key problem between Windows Server 2012 and LogMeIn

This week I instructed my first class using Windows Server 2012 accessed via LogMeIn and discovered a Sticky Key problem every time you press the Shift key. Here is my solution to resolve this. First off, in the Preferences of LogMeIn for the connection to the Windows Server, click General . Change the Keyboard and mouse priority to Host side user and click Apply at the bottom. On the Windows 2012 server, open the Control Panel – Ease of Access – Change how your keyboard works . Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys . Click Set up Sticky Keys . Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys when SHIFT is pressed five times . Click OK twice. If you are using Windows Server 2012 as a Hyper-V host, you will need to redo the Easy of Use settings on each guest operating system in order to avoid the Sticky Key Problem. Updated Information: March 20, 2013 If you continue to have problems, Uncheck Turn on Filter Keys .

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How to run GPResult on a remote client with PowerShell

In the past, to run the GPResult command, you would need to either physically visit this client, have the user do it, or use and RDP connection. In all cases, this will disrupt the user. First, you need PowerShell remoting enabled on the target machine. You can do this via Group Policy . Open PowerShell and type this command. Invoke-Command –ScriptBlock {GPResult /r} –ComputerName <ComputerName> Replace <ComputerName> with the name of the target. Remember, the target needs to be online and accessible to you.

Jason Yoder, MCT

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