Weekend Scripter: Playing Around with PowerShell Namespace ApartmentState
Summary: Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, talks about exploring the Windows PowerShell namespace ApartmentState property.
Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. Ah, it is the weekend. It is not that I “live for weekends” or anything like that. It is just that weekends are different. I generally spend more time preparing my breakfast—Irish steel-cut oats are not out of the question (and it takes me a good 45 minutes to cool steel-cut oats). I take extra care in preparing just the right pot of tea to suit my mood, and I spend long hours playing around with Windows PowerShell—often with no preconceived results in mind. I just want to play, explore, and learn. During the week, I always have a plan—I know what the next 20 Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog posts will be. I always work towards a plan. No so on the weekend.
Windows PowerShell 3.0 console
Did you know that in Windows PowerShell 3.0, we changed the Windows PowerShell console from multi-threaded apartment (MTA) to single-threaded apartment (STA)? If you did not notice the change, you are probably not doing anything that requires MTA mode. If all of a sudden, you have some Windows PowerShell 2.0 or even Windows PowerShell 1.0 scripts that no longer work, now you know why.
Note If you need a refresher on apartment models, refer to Apartments and Pumping in the CLR on Chris Brumme’s blog.
The Windows PowerShell 2.0 defaults were the Windows PowerShell ISE opened in STA mode, and the Windows PowerShell console opened in MTA mode. In Windows PowerShell 3.0, both the Windows PowerShell console and the Windows PowerShell ISE open in STA mode. By returning the Runspace property from the $host automatic variable, I obtained useful information about the Runspace. The following command shows this.
$host.Runspace
The command and associated output from the command are shown in the following image.
I can pick up the host name as well as the ApartmentState directly. This technique is shown here.
15:42 C:\> $host.name
ConsoleHost
15:42 C:\> $host.Runspace.ApartmentState
STA
In the Windows PowerShell ISE, the following results are shown.
PS C:\> $host.Name
Windows PowerShell ISE Host
PS C:\> $host.Runspace.ApartmentState
STA
The Runspace property returns a LocalRunSpace object. The members of this object are shown here.
15:45 C:\> $host.Runspace | gm
TypeName: System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.LocalRunspace
Name MemberType Definition
—- ———- ———-
AvailabilityChanged Event System.EventHandler`1[System.Management.A…
StateChanged Event System.EventHandler`1[System.Management.A…
ClearBaseTransaction Method void ClearBaseTransaction()
Close Method void Close()
CloseAsync Method void CloseAsync()
Connect Method void Connect()
ConnectAsync Method void ConnectAsync()
CreateDisconnectedPipeline Method System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Pi…
CreateDisconnectedPowerShell Method powershell CreateDisconnectedPowerShell()
CreateNestedPipeline Method System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Pi…
CreatePipeline Method System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Pi…
Disconnect Method void Disconnect()
DisconnectAsync Method void DisconnectAsync()
Dispose Method void Dispose(), void IDisposable.Dispose()
Equals Method bool Equals(System.Object obj)
GetApplicationPrivateData Method psprimitivedictionary GetApplicationPriva…
GetCapabilities Method System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Ru…
GetHashCode Method int GetHashCode()
GetType Method type GetType()
Open Method void Open()
OpenAsync Method void OpenAsync()
ResetRunspaceState Method void ResetRunspaceState()
SetBaseTransaction Method void SetBaseTransaction(System.Transactio…
ToString Method string ToString()
ApartmentState Property System.Threading.ApartmentState Apartment…
ConnectionInfo Property System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Ru…
Debugger Property System.Management.Automation.Debugger Deb…
Events Property System.Management.Automation.PSEventManag…
InitialSessionState Property System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.In…
InstanceId Property guid InstanceId {get;}
JobManager Property System.Management.Automation.JobManager J…
LanguageMode Property System.Management.Automation.PSLanguageMo…
OriginalConnectionInfo Property System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Ru…
RunspaceAvailability Property System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Ru…
RunspaceConfiguration Property System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Ru…
RunspaceStateInfo Property System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Ru…
SessionStateProxy Property System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Se…
ThreadOptions Property System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.PS…
Version Property version Version {get;}
The Runspace object is documented on MSDN. This means, that if I wish, I can access the same information via the .NET Framework. This technique is shown here.
15:48 C:\> [System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.runspace]::DefaultRunspace.Apartme
ntState
STA
Hey, I don’t know about you, but for me, I prefer to access the information via $host (although keep in mind that tab expansion does work for these types of things now).
Oh well, I am off to do some other stuff on this fine PowerShell day. Join me tomorrow for an article from the Scripting Wife about the Winter 2013 Scripting Games. Yes, if you don’t know, they are going on right now.
I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. If you have any questions, send email to me at scripter@microsoft.com, or post your questions on the Official Scripting Guys Forum. See you tomorrow. Until then, peace.
Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy
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