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Write-Information



This is the built-in help made by Microsoft for the command 'Write-Information', in PowerShell version 5 - as retrieved from Windows version 'Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard' PowerShell help files on 2016-06-23.

For PowerShell version 3 and up, where you have Update-Help, this command was run just before creating the web pages from the help files.

SYNOPSIS

Specifies how Windows PowerShell handles information stream data for a command.

SYNTAX


Write-Information [-MessageData] <Object> [[-Tags] [<String[]>]] [<CommonParameters>]



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DESCRIPTION


Windows PowerShell 5.0 introduces a new, structured information stream (number 6 in Windows PowerShell streams) that you can use to transmit structured data between a script
and its callers (or hosting environment). Write-Information lets you add an informational message to the stream, and specify how Windows PowerShell handles information
stream data for a command.


The $InformationPreference preference variable value determines whether the message you provide to Write-Information is displayed at the expected point in a script’s
operation. Because the default value of this variable is SilentlyContinue, by default, informational messages are not shown. If you don’t want to change the value of
$InformationPreference, you can override its value by adding the InformationAction common parameter to your command. For more information, see about_Preference_Variables and
about_CommonParameters.


Starting in Windows PowerShell 5.0, Write-Host is a wrapper for Write-Information. You can now use Write-Host to emit output to the information stream, but the
$InformationPreference preference variable and InformationAction common parameter do not affect Write-Host messages. Information streams also work for PowerShell.Streams,
jobs, scheduled jobs, and workflows.


Write-Information is also a supported workflow activity.



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RELATED LINKS


Online Version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=525909
about_CommonParameters
about_Redirection
about_Preference_Variables

REMARKS

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Examples


-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------

PS C:\>Get-WindowsFeature -Name p*; Write-Information -MessageData "Got your features!" -InformationAction Continue
Display Name Name Install State
------------ ---- -------------
[ ] Print and Document Services Print-Services Available
[ ] Print Server Print-Server Available
[ ] Distributed Scan Server Print-Scan-Server Available
[ ] Internet Printing Print-Internet Available
[ ] LPD Service Print-LPD-Service Available
[ ] Peer Name Resolution Protocol PNRP Available
[X] Windows PowerShell PowerShellRoot Installed
[X] Windows PowerShell 5.0 PowerShell Installed
[ ] Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine PowerShell-V2 Removed
[X] Windows PowerShell ISE PowerShell-ISE Installed
Got your features!



In this example, you show an informational message, "Got your features!", after running the Get-WindowsFeature command to find all features that have a Name value that
starts with "p". Because the $InformationPreference variable is still set to its default, SilentlyContinue, you add the InformationAction parameter to override the
$InformationPreference value, and show the message. The InformationAction value is Continue, which means that your message is shown, but the script or command continues, if
it is not yet finished.






-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------

PS C:\>Get-WindowsFeature -Name p*; Write-Information -MessageData "To filter your results for PowerShell, pipe your results to the Where-Object cmdlet." -Tags
"Instructions" -InformationAction Continue
Display Name Name Install State
------------ ---- -------------
[ ] Print and Document Services Print-Services Available
[ ] Print Server Print-Server Available
[ ] Distributed Scan Server Print-Scan-Server Available
[ ] Internet Printing Print-Internet Available
[ ] LPD Service Print-LPD-Service Available
[ ] Peer Name Resolution Protocol PNRP Available
[X] Windows PowerShell PowerShellRoot Installed
[X] Windows PowerShell 5.0 PowerShell Installed
[ ] Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine PowerShell-V2 Removed
[X] Windows PowerShell ISE PowerShell-ISE Installed
To filter your results for PowerShell, pipe your results to the Where-Object cmdlet.



In this example, you use Write-Information to let users know they’ll need to run another command after they’re done running the current command. The example adds the tag
Instructions to the informational message. After running this command, if you search the information stream for messages tagged Instructions, the message specified here
would be among the results.






-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------

PS C:\>function Test-Info
{
Get-Process P*
Write-Information "Here you go"
}
Test-Info 6> Info.txt



In this example, you redirect the information stream in the function to a file, Info.txt, by using the code 6>. When you open the Info.txt file, you see the text, "Here you
go."