Tools

Sequential processing of large data sets can take a long time — especially with cloud APIs. The answer is parallelisation, and for that the data first has to be split into portions (chunks).

So this wheel isn’t reinvented in every script, Split-Array takes care of exactly this step: it splits an array into an array of arrays — either by maximum chunk size or into a fixed number of chunks.

Small but neat: edge cases are handled, and input works both as an argument and via the pipeline.

Install-Module SplitArray          # PowerShellGet
Install-PSResource SplitArray      # PSResourceGet

# Greedy distribution (default): fills chunks to the maximum
Split-Array -InputObject 1..10 -ChunkSize 3
# Result: (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (7,8,9), (10)

# Even distribution: spreads the remainder evenly
Split-Array -InputObject 1..10 -ChunkSize 3 -Distribution Even
# Result: (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (7,8), (9,10)

# Even distribution (default): produces exactly 4 balanced chunks
Split-Array -InputObject 1..10 -MaxChunk 4
# Result: (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (7,8), (9,10)

# Pad with $null up to the full chunk size
Split-Array -InputObject 1..10 -ChunkSize 3 -Pad $null
# Result: (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (7,8,9), (10,$null,$null)

Within a single cmdlet the PowerShell pipeline is elegant. But as soon as the outputs of several cmdlets have to be combined, the manual work begins: loops, temporary variables and hand-maintained hashtable lookups.

Join-Object combines the outputs of two cmdlets by a shared identity — such as an SMTP address or GUID — into a single object, right in the pipeline.

Each cmdlet is called exactly once, without any explicit loops. The result stays a compact, readable one-liner.

Install-Module JoinObject          # PowerShellGet
Install-PSResource JoinObject      # PSResourceGet

Get-ScheduledTask | Join Get-ScheduledTaskInfo -IdentityProperty TaskName |
    Select-Object TaskName, State, LastRunTime, LastTaskResult

Get-Mailbox -RecipientTypeDetails SharedMailbox |
    Join-Object Get-MailboxStatistics |
    Select-Object PrimarySmtpAddress, TotalItemSize, ItemCount

$Users | Join-Object Get-ADUser -With @{ Properties = 'Department', 'Office' } -Force

What DOS batch files always offered with ECHO ON is still missing from PowerShell: a log that records, before each command, what is about to run. In long logs, output therefore often can no longer be attributed to the command that produced it.

Invoke-WithEcho runs a script block and logs the command text beforehand — together with type and current value of every variable the block reads. Combined with Start-Transcript, every line in the log becomes attributable to its trigger.

Resolution only reads the variables from the caller’s scope — nothing is executed twice, no side effects. SecureStrings and credentials appear masked, and the block’s output passes through the pipeline unchanged.

Install-Module InvokeWithEcho          # PowerShellGet
Install-PSResource InvokeWithEcho      # PSResourceGet

$sourcePath = 'C:\data\import'
$files = Invoke-WithEcho { Get-ChildItem $sourcePath -Filter *.csv }

# Echo output (also lands in the transcript):
# >> Get-ChildItem $sourcePath -Filter *.csv
#    $sourcePath  String  1  C:\data\import

Start-Transcript deploy.log
Invoke-WithEcho { Copy-Item $source $target -Recurse }
Invoke-WithEcho { Restart-Service $serviceName }
Stop-Transcript
# deploy.log holds each command with its values — before its output

# Log only the command text, without variable values
Invoke-WithEcho { Get-Content $configPath } -NoExpand

# Redirect the echo lines to a file instead of the console
$result = Invoke-WithEcho { Get-Process } 6> echo.log