Skip to main content

Basic Debugging in SAPIEN PowerShell Studio 2015

I wanted to share a little debugging trick with SAPIEN PowerShell Studio 2015.  Logic bugs are not a fun.  Essentially, your script is doing exactly what you told it to do, but it is not what you wanted it to do.  Most likely, the contents of memory are not what you expected.  SAPIEN PowerShell Studio 2015 has both a Variable and a Watch window to help you in your debugging efforts.  Take a look at this code:



There is nothing wrong with it.  I just want to use very basic code.  By pressing Ctrl – F5 you will run this code normally.  Pressing F5 runs the code in Debug Mode.  In Debug Mode, nothing special happens.  You have to set a break point.







Above, I clicked on line 16 and pressed F9.  This is where execution of the code will stop and allow you to examine the contents of memory.  Press F5 to see what happens next.



You can see the arrow beside line 16.  This is where we currently are suspending execution.  The Variables window is opened and I scrolled to the bottom of the list to see our variables.  Variable Z is not in memory since we stopped execution on its line.  While scrolling through this list, you may notice that all data in memory is being displayed.  If you want to focus on a specific variable and ignore the rest, use the watch window.  Right click X and select Add to Watch.  Now click on the Watch tab.


Each time you run this code, this variable will be in the watch window until you remove it.


By pressing F5 again, you will resume script execution.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to list all the AD LDS instances on a server

AD LDS allows you to provide directory services to applications that are free of the confines of Active Directory.  To list all the AD LDS instances on a server, follow this procedure: Log into the server in question Open a command prompt. Type dsdbutil and press Enter Type List Instances and press Enter . You will receive a list of the instance name, both the LDAP and SSL port numbers, the location of the database, and its status.

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.

Error icon when creating a GPO Preference drive map

You may not have an error at all.  Take a look at the drive mapping below. The red triangle is what threw us off.  It is not an error.  It is simply a color representation of the Replace option of the Action field in the properties of the drive mappings. Create action This give you a green triangle. The Create action creates a new mapped drive for users. Replace Action The Replace action gives you a red triangle.  This action will delete and recreate mapped drives for users. The net result of the Replace action is to overwrite all existing settings associated with the mapped drive. If the drive mapping does not exist, then the Replace action creates a new drive mapping. Update Action The Update action will have a yellow triangle. Update will modify settings of an existing mapped drive for users. This action differs from Replace in that it only updates settings defined within the preference item. All other settings remain as configured on the mapped drive. If the