How do I redirect Console Output to PowerShell Output within a module?

Question

If I'm writing a binary PowerShell module and I happen to use a .NET library that writes to STDOUT (Console.Out) -- is there a recommended approach to reroute the console output to PowerShell's Output stream?

I can intercept the Console.Out by setting my own TextWriter via Console.SetOut(...) and then do something with it (i.e. I can buffer the output with a StringWriter and write it all out at some future point, or I can write a custom TextWriter that sends all Write commands to PowerShell's WriteObject).

My question is really, is there some standard or recommended practice for doing this or some built-in tools in the PowerShell library already?

I don't think so. What you describe (wrap WriteObject() in a TextWriter and set it as Console.Out) is exactly what I would have suggested — Mathias R. Jessen, Sep 16 '17 at 16:27
Thanks, that appears to be the guidance from PS team as well. — E Bekker, Sep 19 '17 at 19:32

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 19 '17 at 19:33

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I asked the question of the PS team via GitHub and the general response was that the TextWriter-to-WriteObject approach was a reasonable approach: https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/issues/4849

answered Sep 19 '17 at 19:33

E Bekker

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 20 '17 at 01:56

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If you want to output to the pipeline use WriteObject(). WriteInformation(), WriteDebug(), WriteWarning() gets a message (string) to the host.

answered Sep 20 '17 at 01:56

John Donnelly

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Yes, that's fine for content that I control, but the point of the question was how to redirect someone else's output that goes to the STDIO output? In any even the solution was confirmed by the PS team -- you simply have to do the redirection yourself. – E Bekker Sep 20 '17 at 14:10

How do I redirect Console Output to PowerShell Output within a module?

2 Answers2