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is this script interactive?
2012-Oct-15, Monday 09:12 pmCan a powershell script determine if it's running in an interactive environment or not? I have a few methods that get close to the answer, but nothing offers satisfying certainty yet.
I need to know, because I want to separate hardcoded userid/password combinations from my scripts. I want to put them into the parameter of the scheduled task instead. When testing those same scripts interactively, though, I want the script to prompt me for the data that it didn't receive through parameters.
Any script stuck at a user prompt is a Bad Thing [tm] when running in batch mode, since no one will ever answer it. Using the '-NonInteractive' parameter is a good idea for all batch PowerShell scripts for this reason. It seems to just suppress any command (or the partial execution of it) that would require user input. I didn't even know this parameter existed until today. It would have prevented an error in a production script that got stuck prompting for permission to delete a subfolder that I never expected to be there. My script would have skipped that subfolder and gone on its merry way doing other things.
It still doesn't answer my question, though. Is there a reliable way to tell if my script is running interactively or not? Yes, it's a bit like asking which kind of virtual reality I live in, but sometimes it is important to know the distinction. :) Does anyone have the answer?
edit 2012.10.19: I forgot to mention previously, but someone on g+ pointed me to a webpage where contributors mentioned a few ways of dealing with this problem. Among the solutions was one that works: [environment]::userinteractive.
| Code | Explanation |
| $host.name | powershell.exe yields 'ConsoleHost' powershell_gui.exe yields 'Windows PowerShell ISE Host' Each program, however, can operate in either batch or interactive conditions. |
$process = gwmi win32_process -filter "ProcessID=$pid" | If someone programs the scheduled task with the "-NonInteractive" parameter, then the script can successfully read that parameter. It's not the default, though. |
| $host.runspace.runspacestateinfo $host.runspace.runspaceavailability | I always find the state info as 'Opened'. In gui conditions, availability has always been 'Busy'. In batch conditions, though, it is 'Available'. Can I rely on this indicator? |
I need to know, because I want to separate hardcoded userid/password combinations from my scripts. I want to put them into the parameter of the scheduled task instead. When testing those same scripts interactively, though, I want the script to prompt me for the data that it didn't receive through parameters.
Any script stuck at a user prompt is a Bad Thing [tm] when running in batch mode, since no one will ever answer it. Using the '-NonInteractive' parameter is a good idea for all batch PowerShell scripts for this reason. It seems to just suppress any command (or the partial execution of it) that would require user input. I didn't even know this parameter existed until today. It would have prevented an error in a production script that got stuck prompting for permission to delete a subfolder that I never expected to be there. My script would have skipped that subfolder and gone on its merry way doing other things.
It still doesn't answer my question, though. Is there a reliable way to tell if my script is running interactively or not? Yes, it's a bit like asking which kind of virtual reality I live in, but sometimes it is important to know the distinction. :) Does anyone have the answer?
edit 2012.10.19: I forgot to mention previously, but someone on g+ pointed me to a webpage where contributors mentioned a few ways of dealing with this problem. Among the solutions was one that works: [environment]::userinteractive.