In my previous post “Getting your feet wet with Powershell GUI” I had mentioned how difficult it was get a concise documentation on creating Powershell GUI. To my surprise I discovered that there is a real cool tool developed by Sapien Technologies that allows you to create a Powershell GUI. They have a free Powershell Form creator – Primal Forms Community Creator” which enables you to create a nifty GUI. I was able to create a neat Form and then fill in the details of actually manipulating the controls I added. For details about the controls of a textBox, comboBox etc in Powershell refer to the MSDN library. This was the Powershell GUI I had created.

I have included the code below to execute some basic commands

Note: You can clone the code below from GitHub : Creating a GUI in powershell

#########################################################################################################
# Developed by Tinniam V Ganesh
# Date 24 Apr 2012
# Powershell GUI generated by Primal Forms CE from Sapien Technologies (http://www.sapien.com/)
#########################################################################################################
function Get-SysInfo ($strComputer)
{
write-host “reached here”
$statusBar1.Text =”Working …”
if ($radiobutton1.checked -eq $True)
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -ComputerName $strComputer|Export-csv -force “test.csv”
}
else
{
$wmi =Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -ComputerName $strComputer|ConvertTo-Html|out-file -append “test.html”
}

$statusBar1.Text =”Done.”
}

#*=============================================================================
Function Get-BIOSInfo ($strComputer)
{
$statusBar1.Text =”Working …”
if ($radiobutton1.checked -eq $True)
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_BIOS -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -computername $strComputer|Export-csv -force “test.csv”
}
else
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_BIOS -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -computername $strComputer|ConvertTo-Html|out-file -append “test.html”
}

$statusBar1.Text =”Done.”
}

Function Get-OSInfo {
$statusBar1.Text =”Working …”
if ($radiobutton1.checked -eq $True)
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -Computername $strComputer|Export-csv -force “test.csv”
}
else
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -Computername $strComputer|out-file -append “test.html”
}

$statusBar1.Text =”Done.”
}

Function Get-CPUInfo {

$statusBar1.Text =”Working …”
if ($radiobutton1.checked -eq $True)
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_Processor -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -Computername $strComputer|Export-csv -force “test.csv”
}
else
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_Processor -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -Computername $strComputer|out-file -append “test.html”
}

$statusBar1.Text =”Done.”
}

Function Get-DiskInfo {

$statusBar1.Text =”Working …”
if ($radiobutton1.checked -eq $True)
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_DiskDrive -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -ComputerName $strComputer|Export-csv -force “test.csv”
}
else
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_DiskDrive -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -ComputerName $strComputer|out-file -append “test.html”
}

$statusBar1.Text =”Done.”
}

Function Get-NetworkInfo {

$statusBar1.Text =”Working …”
if ($radiobutton1.checked -eq $True)
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -ComputerName $strComputer | where{$_.IPEnabled -eq “True”}|Export-csv -noclobber “test.csv”
}
else
{
$wmi = Get-WmiObject Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration -Namespace “root\CIMV2″ -ComputerName $strComputer | where{$_.IPEnabled -eq “True”}|out-file -append “test.html”
}

$statusBar1.Text =”Done.”
}

#Generated Form Function
function GenerateForm {
########################################################################
# Code Generated By: SAPIEN Technologies PrimalForms (Community Edition) v1.0.10.0
# Generated On: 4/24/2012 2:46 PM
# Generated By: tvganesh
########################################################################

#region Import the Assemblies
[reflection.assembly]::loadwithpartialname(“System.Windows.Forms”) | Out-Null
[reflection.assembly]::loadwithpartialname(“System.Drawing”) | Out-Null
#endregion

#region Generated Form Objects
$form1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
$statusBar1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.StatusBar
$label2 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$button3 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
$button2 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
$tabControl1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TabControl
$tabControl = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TabPage
$groupBox1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.GroupBox
$radioButton2 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.RadioButton
$radioButton1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.RadioButton
$label1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
$textBox1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
$comboBox1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox
$Database = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TabPage
$tabPage1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TabPage
$tabPage2 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TabPage
$button1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
$fontDialog1 = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FontDialog
$InitialFormWindowState = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FormWindowState
#endregion Generated Form Objects

#———————————————-
#Generated Event Script Blocks
#———————————————-
#Provide Custom Code for events specified in PrimalForms.
$button3_OnClick=
{
$form1.Close()

}

$button2_OnClick=
{
$textBox1.text=””
# Set to the first item
$comboBox1.SelectedIndex = 0;

}

$handler_button1_Click=
{
$x = $textbox1.text
$vals = $x.split(“,”)
forEach($strComputer in $vals)
{
switch($combobox1.selectedItem)
{
“SysInfo” {Get-SysInfo ($strComputer)}
“BiosInfo” {Get-BiosInfo($strComputer)}
“CPUInfo” {Get-cpuInfo($strComputer)}
“DiskInfo” {Get-diskInfo($strComputer)}
“OSInfo” {Get-OSInfo($strCOmputer)}
“NetworkInfo” {Get-NetworkInfo($strComputer)}
}
}
}

$OnLoadForm_StateCorrection=
{#Correct the initial state of the form to prevent the .Net maximized form issue
$form1.WindowState = $InitialFormWindowState
}

#———————————————-
#region Generated Form Code
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 444
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 704
$form1.ClientSize = $System_Drawing_Size
$form1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$form1.Name = “form1”
$form1.Text = “Primal Form”

$statusBar1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 0
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 422
$statusBar1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$statusBar1.Name = “statusBar1”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 22
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 704
$statusBar1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$statusBar1.TabIndex = 8
$statusBar1.Text = “Ready”

$form1.Controls.Add($statusBar1)

$label2.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$label2.Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font(“Microsoft Sans Serif”,14.25,1,3,1)

$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 205
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 22
$label2.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$label2.Name = “label2”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 34
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 341
$label2.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$label2.TabIndex = 7
$label2.Text = “Windows Resource Management”

$form1.Controls.Add($label2)
$button3.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0

$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 439
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 343
$button3.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$button3.Name = “button3”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 23
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 75
$button3.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$button3.TabIndex = 6
$button3.Text = “Exit”
$button3.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True
$button3.add_Click($button3_OnClick)

$form1.Controls.Add($button3)
$button2.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0

$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 330
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 343
$button2.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$button2.Name = “button2”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 23
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 75
$button2.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$button2.TabIndex = 5
$button2.Text = “Cancel”
$button2.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True
$button2.add_Click($button2_OnClick)

$form1.Controls.Add($button2)

$tabControl1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 136
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 83
$tabControl1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$tabControl1.Name = “tabControl1”
$tabControl1.SelectedIndex = 0
$tabControl1.ShowToolTips = $True
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 231
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 453
$tabControl1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$tabControl1.TabIndex = 4

$form1.Controls.Add($tabControl1)
$tabControl.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 4
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 22
$tabControl.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$tabControl.Name = “tabControl”
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Padding
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.All = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Bottom = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Left = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Right = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Top = 3
$tabControl.Padding = $System_Windows_Forms_Padding
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 205
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 445
$tabControl.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$tabControl.TabIndex = 0
$tabControl.Text = “Basic Commands”
$tabControl.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True

$tabControl1.Controls.Add($tabControl)

$groupBox1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 271
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 123
$groupBox1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$groupBox1.Name = “groupBox1”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 49
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 124
$groupBox1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$groupBox1.TabIndex = 3
$groupBox1.TabStop = $False
$groupBox1.Text = “Save As”

$tabControl.Controls.Add($groupBox1)

$radioButton2.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0

$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 48
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 19
$radioButton2.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$radioButton2.Name = “radioButton2”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 24
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 104
$radioButton2.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$radioButton2.TabIndex = 1
$radioButton2.TabStop = $True
$radioButton2.Text = “HTML”
$radioButton2.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True

$groupBox1.Controls.Add($radioButton2)
$radioButton1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0

$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 6
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 19
$radioButton1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$radioButton1.Name = “radioButton1”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 24
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 104
$radioButton1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$radioButton1.TabIndex = 0
$radioButton1.TabStop = $True
$radioButton1.Text = “CSV”
$radioButton1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True
$radioButton1.checked =$True

$groupBox1.Controls.Add($radioButton1)
$label1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0

$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 6
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 26
$label1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$label1.Name = “label1”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 20
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 192
$label1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$label1.TabIndex = 2
$label1.Text = “Enter comma separated server list”

$tabControl.Controls.Add($label1)

$textBox1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 220
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 26
$textBox1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$textBox1.Name = “textBox1”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 20
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 203
$textBox1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$textBox1.TabIndex = 1

$tabControl.Controls.Add($textBox1)

$comboBox1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$comboBox1.FormattingEnabled = $True
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 220
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 79
$comboBox1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$comboBox1.Name = “comboBox1”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 21
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 200
$comboBox1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$comboBox1.TabIndex = 0

$commands = @(“SysInfo”,”BIOSInfo”,”OSInfo”,”CPUInfo”,”DiskInfo”,”NetworkInfo”)
ForEach ($command in $commands){
$comboBox1.items.add($command)
}
$tabControl.Controls.Add($comboBox1)

# Set to the first item
$comboBox1.SelectedIndex = 0;
$Database.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 4
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 22
$Database.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$Database.Name = “Database”
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Padding
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.All = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Bottom = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Left = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Right = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Top = 3
$Database.Padding = $System_Windows_Forms_Padding
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 205
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 445
$Database.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$Database.TabIndex = 1
$Database.Text = “Database”
$Database.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True

$tabControl1.Controls.Add($Database)

$tabPage1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 4
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 22
$tabPage1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$tabPage1.Name = “tabPage1”
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Padding
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.All = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Bottom = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Left = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Right = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Top = 3
$tabPage1.Padding = $System_Windows_Forms_Padding
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 205
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 445
$tabPage1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$tabPage1.TabIndex = 2
$tabPage1.Text = “Active Directory”
$tabPage1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True

$tabControl1.Controls.Add($tabPage1)

$tabPage2.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 4
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 22
$tabPage2.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$tabPage2.Name = “tabPage2”
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Padding
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.All = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Bottom = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Left = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Right = 3
$System_Windows_Forms_Padding.Top = 3
$tabPage2.Padding = $System_Windows_Forms_Padding
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 205
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 445
$tabPage2.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$tabPage2.TabIndex = 3
$tabPage2.Text = “Backup & Restore”
$tabPage2.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True

$tabControl1.Controls.Add($tabPage2)

$button1.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0

$System_Drawing_Point = New-Object System.Drawing.Point
$System_Drawing_Point.X = 226
$System_Drawing_Point.Y = 343
$button1.Location = $System_Drawing_Point
$button1.Name = “button1”
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 23
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 75
$button1.Size = $System_Drawing_Size
$button1.TabIndex = 0
$button1.Text = “Submit”
$button1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = $True
$button1.add_Click($handler_button1_Click)

$form1.Controls.Add($button1)

$fontDialog1.ShowHelp = $True

#endregion Generated Form Code

#Save the initial state of the form
$InitialFormWindowState = $form1.WindowState
#Init the OnLoad event to correct the initial state of the form
$form1.add_Load($OnLoadForm_StateCorrection)
#Show the Form
$form1.ShowDialog()| Out-Null

} #End Function

#Call the Function
GenerateForm

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