Q: I have a list of Windows PowerShell commands I need to run as part of a demo--how can I enter these commands during a demo?
A: I do a lot of PowerShell demos, and typically I just type out the commands during the demo. This sometimes leads to some typos. Other times I cut and paste commands from Notepad, which is not very smooth. Several scripts on the Internet help run all the commands in a text file, allowing you to press the return key to display the next line in the file, and then press return to actually run the command.
I found a script at the Microsoft MSDN blog. It creates a Start-Demo function. I also found an enhanced version at PoshCode, which does a great job. Download the Start-Demo.ps1 file from the site, place all your commands in a text file, then pass the text file to the Start-Demo.ps1 script. Here's an example, with output:
.\Start-Demo.ps1 demo.txt
Press ? for help.
[0]≥ get-process skydrive
Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) VM(M) CPU(s) Id ProcessName
------- ------ ----- ----- ----- ------ -- -----------
599 44 16036 16260 160 5.33 5324 SkyDrive
[1]≥ get-service power
Status Name DisplayName
------ ---- -----------
Running Power power
[2]≥ Write-Host 'The End'
The End
1/27/2013 1:54:18 PM
PS D:\projects\PowerShell>
