How to reference .net assemblies using powershell

Question

I am a C# .net developer/architect and I am learning powershell.

I have the basics down packed and understand that it uses objects (.Net objects) and not just streams/text.

I would like to be able to use powershell to call methods on my .net (C# library) assembies.

How do I reference an assembly in powershell and use the assemlbY?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Take a look at this blog post:

Take, for example, a simple math library. It has a static Sum method, and an instance Product method:

namespace MyMathLib 
{ 
    public class Methods 
    { 
        public Methods() 
        { 
        }

        public static int Sum(int a, int b) 
        { 
            return a + b; 
        } 

        public int Product(int a, int b) 
        { 
            return a * b; 
        } 
    } 
}

Compile and run in Powershell:

> [Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFile("c:\temp\MyMathLib.dll")
> [MyMathLib.Methods]::Sum(10, 2)

> $mathInstance = new-object MyMathLib.Methods
> $mathInstance.Product(10, 2)

Answer 2

With PowerShell 2.0, you can use the built in Cmdlet Add-Type.

You would just need to specify the path to the dll.

Add-Type -Path foo.dll

Also, you can use inline C# or VB.NET with Add-Type. The @" syntax is a HERE string.

C:\PS>$source = @"
    public class BasicTest
    {
        public static int Add(int a, int b)
        {
            return (a + b);
        }

        public int Multiply(int a, int b)
        {
            return (a * b);
        }
    }
    "@

    C:\PS> Add-Type -TypeDefinition $source

    C:\PS> [BasicTest]::Add(4, 3)

    C:\PS> $basicTestObject = New-Object BasicTest 
    C:\PS> $basicTestObject.Multiply(5, 2)