Powershell ISE Lacks color output

Question

I am using Powershell ISE to run a build script - which in turn uses MSBuild - however - it does not allow the textual colors of MSBuild to shine through. MSBuild outputs color coded messages - yellow, grey, green or red depending on its content.

If I run the script through the normal powershell.exe (which is CMD underneath) I get the color coding.

Within Powershell ISE, I tested it using Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green 'hello' which worked, so is there a reason why the color from MSBuild won't work?

So your problem is that powershell does not pass color information to MSBuild? — Victor Zakharov, Feb 05 '14 at 15:53
@Neolisk Actually, it looks like his issue is the exact opposite. PowerShellISE is not accepting color information that is being passed back from MSBuild and it is just formatting everything as plain text. — TheMadTechnician, Feb 05 '14 at 16:34

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 05 '14 at 20:12

7

PowerShell.exe is Win32 console-based application and so is MSBUILD.exe which is why it can output using console colors. PowerShell_ISE is not a console-based app. It is a Windows subsystem app - specifically it is a WPF app. What you see with its Command tool window is an emulation of console mode but not a 100% fool proof emulation. If you had access to the old edit.com, it is supposed to work in PowerShell.exe. I'm pretty sure it would not work in the PowerShell_ISE command window.

answered Feb 05 '14 at 20:12

Keith Hill

194,368
42
353
369

You are right. Powershell ISE is just an emulator of console mode. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/powershell/archive/2009/04/17/differences-between-the-ise-and-powershell-console.aspx - says there is no color output for console applications. – Tahir Hassan Feb 06 '14 at 12:09

Powershell ISE Lacks color output

1 Answers1