Ed Wilson: Lessons learned from testing 200 scripts

  • Article

I recently finished writing all 200 Windows PowerShell scripts for the Windows 7 Resource Kit. When I turned them in, the lead author Mitch Tulloch, tested them and wrote up a detailed analysis of each script. Keep in mind that prior to turning in the scripts I had tested them and I had a peer test the scripts as well. While I expected to see a few comments such as “this error message could be clearer” or “it would be better if the output were formatted in this manner” I did not expect to see as many errors as Mitch reported back to me. Some of the things I found out that I had not checked are listed here.

  1. The status of the Windows Firewall
  2. Whether the script is run in the Windows PowerShell Console or if it is run in the Integrated Scripting Environment
  3. Is the computer in a domain environment or is it in a workgroup
  4. What is the version of the operating system the script is run upon

Here are some things that I did check when I was testing the scripts:

  1. Is the script running as a normal user, or elevated
  2. Is the required module loaded
  3. What is the version of Windows PowerShell that is running
  4. Is the targeted remote computer available
  5. Is a required parameter supplied