SyntaxHelp

#Syntax Help This page is to help understand the syntax sections as seen in the Cmdlets pages. I wasn't really able to find a decent guide out there due to the ambiguity of the word in context of PowerShell, so I decided to write up something quick myself. If you find a better guide, something supplemental or complementary do let me know!

For understanding, we'll take the common Get-GAUser Cmdlet syntax:

Get-GAUser [-UserName] <String> [[-Domain] <String>] [-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]] [-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]] [<CommonParameters>]

Get-GAUser [[-All] [<SwitchParameter>]] [[-Cache] [<SwitchParameter>]] [[-ForceCacheReload] [<SwitchParameter>]] [-MaxResults <Int32>] [-MultiDomain [<SwitchParameter>]] [[-Domain] <String>] [-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]] [-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]] [<CommonParameters>]

To understand what this means, you need to know a few primary points.

##Parameters: Positional Note: If you're not sure what parameters are, please see the PowerShell Basics.

Let's take an example you may type in PowerShell:

Get-GAUser -UserName myuser -Domain domain.com

You know that the Cmdlet itself is Get-GAUser, but you may be wondering what the other things are (beyond the obvious). Those are the parameters and arguments.

Since you're defining the parameters in this example you could also type them out of order by putting the parameter and argument for Domain first instead of UserName. However, you also have the option of omitting the parameter altogether as long as you keep them in the order specified in the Syntax above. That's why most parameters are positional. You can define them simply by their position in the Cmdlet.

So:

Get-GAUser myuser domain.com

shows us that by keeping myuser in position 1 we know it's the UserName, and by keeping domain.com in position 2 we know it's the domain. Notice how this aligns with what's in the square brackets [] in the first syntax above. -Username is first, and -Domain is second.

But what do the square brackets mean?

##Parameters: Optional Simply put, square brackets mean the thing inside is optional. Since we can omit positional parameters, they're not required for the Cmdlet to run and therefore are optional. Similarly, you'll notice in the first syntax everything after [-UserName] <String> is in a big set of square brackets. That's because none of them are necessary for the Cmdlet to work, only UserName.

Keep in mind, Domain is optional here because gShell remembers a Default Domain so that you don't have to repeatedly supply it.

##Parameter Types You'll also notice the pointy brackets <>, like in <String>. This simply indicates the type of the information you'll have to make that argument. Basic types are:

• <String> - Simply put, this is text; often wrapped in single or double quotes especially if it contains spaces. ex. "Table"
• <Int> - This is a whole number, aka - not a decimal or fraction. ex. - 1, 4 or 7846
• <Boolean> - A true/false value. In PowerShell, these are pre-defined variables of $True and $False

##Syntax Variations There can be multiple ways to use a Cmdlet. In the case of Get-GAUser, you can tell it to get one user, or all users. But, you cannot ask it to do both (that would be a conflict). So, when you see multiple syntax options that means there are multiple ways of using the Cmdlet.

In the second example above, it looks a bit tricky - it seems like you can just type Get-GAUser without anything else since the rest is all in a square bracket [] right? Not quite. In this case, it means that no one of those parameters is requried. For instance, you can specify -All, but if you use -Cache the All parameter is already implied (since Cache doesn't work with a single user get). Thus, depending on the scneario of your use, any one of those Parameters could be left out.

It can be a little confusing, but just read carefully and try things out!

##Summary

1. Some parameters can be ommitted and the arguments can be supplied based on their position after the Cmdlet
2. Some parameters are optional altogether and are indicated by square brackets [].
3. The type that the argument must be is indicated with pointy brackets, <>, following the parameter.
4. There can be multiple ways to use a Cmdlet, as indicated by mutliple Syntax fields. Read them carefully to fully understand them.