Wasted thirty minutes trying to debug why some PowerShell module I installed wasn't working. Turned out it was because it used the "where" -> "Where-Object" alias... ...which I removed on my machine in order to be able to call "where.exe" without always needing to specify the ".exe". - ThreadSky

pingzing.xyz • 82 days ago

Wasted thirty minutes trying to debug why some PowerShell module I installed wasn't working.

Turned out it was because it used the "where" -> "Where-Object" alias...

...which I removed on my machine in order to be able to call "where.exe" without always needing to specify the ".exe".

Comments

jamesdbartlett3.bsky.social•82 days ago

That's a poorly-written module, then. It's considered an anti-pattern to use aliases in production code.

posh.guru•81 days ago

that's actually a built-in alias to PowerShell itself. It can be removed but otherwise it's best to be explicit when calling an executable. Unfortunate conflict but it's been there forever and would break things if it was removed now by default (you can remove it as part of your script or profile)

jamesdbartlett3.bsky.social•81 days ago

Yeah, but the module's author still shouldn't have used the alias in their cmdlets. That's the actual root cause of the issue in this case.

jamesdbartlett3.bsky.social•81 days ago

@pingzing.xyz a possible workaround for you would be to install and use `which.exe` for finding exe file paths, and uninstall `where.exe`. That would eliminate the conflict without losing any functionality.

seeminglyscience.com•81 days ago

While I personally agree, `where` and `foreach` specifically are not as unanimous in the community. There's a not insignificant group of folks who believe they should be treated more like keywords, and using the full command name is less readable.

(Again, not me, just saying it's not as clear cut)

jamesdbartlett3.bsky.social•81 days ago

I wonder what Jeffrey Snover would say about this. 🤔

Hey @jsnover.com, huge fan here. I owe a significant part of my career success to PowerShell, so thank you for creating it! 😊

Any thoughts on whether `where` and `foreach` should be treated as official keywords and used in production code?

jsnover.com•80 days ago

There is a time to be principled and a time to be pragmatic.
On this one, we went with principle - a fully consistent model.
I assumed that the community would not shy away from aliases the way they have and would use them where they made sense.
In retrospect, I should have hardwired those

seeminglyscience.com•81 days ago

So I mention it only because it is much harder to completely write off when a decent chunk of folks do it regardless of what any one individual thinks. You can use github code search to gauge usage of each

path:*.ps1 /\|\s*where [{a-zA-Z\-]/
path:*.ps1 /\|\s*where-object [{a-zA-Z\-]/

pingzing.xyz•82 days ago

Yup. Still faster than writing its functionality myself, though

(NPM completions in the shell)

jamesdbartlett3.bsky.social•82 days ago

Sounds like a nice feature to have! If you know where the source code for that module is kept, you could probably score some points by submitting a quick PR.

pingzing.xyz•82 days ago

Thought about it. Last release was 2016, and last commit was 2020 (which never saw a release), so I may save it for a day when I've got more spoons to burn

jamesdbartlett3.bsky.social•82 days ago

Ooof... I feel ya on that, big time. Spoons are worth their weight in Unobtainium 'round these parts (my wife and I are both neurospicy).

Might be worth contacting the module's dev and asking if it's abandoned or just idle for the moment. Could help you decide whether to fork, PR, etc.

mrpowershell.bsky.social•82 days ago

A - I'm sorry, that's a crappy way to spend a half hour

B - This is why I prefer to only override commands in modules.

C - This is why I don't personalize a profile too much ( just load a module or two )

pingzing.xyz•82 days ago

Computers, man.

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