This is the built-in help made by Microsoft for the command 'Get-FormatData', in PowerShell version 3 - as retrieved from
Windows version 'Microsoft Windows Server 2012 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.
Gets the formatting data in the current session.
Get-FormatData [[-TypeName] <String[]>] [<CommonParameters>]
The Get-FormatData cmdlet gets the formatting data in the current session.
The formatting data in the session includes formatting data from Format.ps1xml formatting files (such as those in the $pshome directory),
formatting data for modules that you import into the session, and formatting data for commands that you import into your session by using the
Import-PSSession cmdlet.
You can use this cmdlet to examine the formatting data. Then, you can use the Export-FormatData cmdlet to serialize the objects (convert them
to XML) and save them in Format.ps1xml files.
For more information about formatting files in Windows PowerShell, see about_Format.ps1xml.
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Online Version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=144303
Export-FormatData
Update-FormatData
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-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------
PS C:\>get-formatdata
This command gets all the formatting data in the session.
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
PS C:\>get-formatdata -typename Microsoft.Wsman*
This command gets the formatting data items whose names begin with "Microsoft.Wsman".
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------
PS C:\>$f = get-formatdata -typename helpinfoshort
PS C:\>$f
TypeName FormatViewDefinition
-------- --------------------
HelpInfoShort {help , TableControl}
PS C:\>$f.FormatViewDefinition[0].control
Headers Rows
------- ----
{System.Management.Automation.TableControlColumnHeader, System.Manageme... {System.Management.Automation.TableControlRow}
PS C:\>$f.FormatViewDefinition[0].control.headers
Label Alignment Width
----- --------- -----
Name Left 33
Category Left 9
Undefined 0
This example shows how to get a formatting data object and examine its properties.
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------
PS C:\>$a = get-formatdata
PS C:\>import-module bitstransfer
PS C:\>$b = get-formatdata
PS C:\>compare-object $a $b
InputObject SideIndicator
----------- -------------
Microsoft.BackgroundIntelligentTransfer.Management.BitsJob =>
PS C:\>get-formatdata *bits* | export-formatdata -filepath c:\test\bits.format.ps1xml
PS C:\>get-content c:\test\bits.format.ps1xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><Configuration><ViewDefinitions>
<View><Name>Microsoft.BackgroundIntelligentTransfer.Management.BitsJob</Name>
...
This example shows how to use Get-FormatData and Export-FormatData to export the formatting data that is added by a module.
The first four commands use the Get-FormatData, Import-Module, and Compare-Object cmdlets to identify the format type that the BitsTransfer
module adds to the session.
The fifth command uses the Get-FormatData cmdlet to get the format type that the BitsTransfer module adds. It uses a pipeline operator (|) to
send the format type object to the Export-FormatData cmdlet, which converts it back to XML and saves it in the specified format.ps1xml file.
The final command shows an excerpt of the format.ps1xml file content.