The wonderful world of CliXml output

Catalog.cs

// You can output any simple .Net Object that you like 
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Management.Automation;

namespace PoshCode
{
    // A data object we're going to output 
    public class Vehicle
    {
        public string Model { get; set; }
        public string Make { get; set; }
        public int Year { get; set; }
    }


    class Catalog
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            var output = new Vehicle[]
            {
                new Vehicle { Model = "Cooper", Make = "Mini", Year = 2015 },
                new Vehicle { Model = "Mazda3", Make = "Mazda", Year = 2016 },
            };

            Console.Out.WriteLine("#< CLIXML");
            foreach(var item in output) {
                Console.Out.WriteLine(PSSerializer.Serialize(item));
            }
        }
    }
}

Example.ps1

<#PS: #> # Note that Catalog outputs TEXT ONLY -- but in CliXML format with a magic header line ...
<#PS: #> add-type -Path .\Catalog.cs -OutputAssembly Catalog.exe -ReferencedAssemblies System.Xml

<#PS: #> .\Catalog.exe
#< CLIXML
<Objs Version="1.1.0.1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/2004/04">
  <Obj RefId="0">
    <TN RefId="0">
      <T>PoshCode.Vehicle[]</T>
      <T>System.Array</T>
      <T>System.Object</T>
    </TN>
    <LST>
      <Obj RefId="1">
        <TN RefId="1">
          <T>PoshCode.Vehicle</T>
          <T>System.Object</T>
        </TN>
        <ToString>PoshCode.Vehicle</ToString>
        <Props>
          <S N="Model">Cooper</S>
          <S N="Make">Mini</S>
          <I32 N="Year">2015</I32>
        </Props>
      </Obj>
      <Obj RefId="2">
        <TNRef RefId="1" />
        <ToString>PoshCode.Vehicle</ToString>
        <Props>
          <S N="Model">Mazda3</S>
          <S N="Make">Mazda</S>
          <I32 N="Year">2016</I32>
        </Props>
      </Obj>
    </LST>
  </Obj>
</Objs>

<#PS: #> # If you invoke it as part of a script, it turns into PowerShell objects:

<#PS: #> (.\Catalog.exe)
Model  Make  Year
-----  ----  ----
Cooper Mini  2015
Mazda3 Mazda 2016

<#PS: #> # Here's another example, taking advantage of this to write an executable that wraps a PowerShell script:

<#PS: #>  add-type -Path .\Runner.cs -OutputAssembly Runner.exe -ReferencedAssemblies System.Xml

<#PS: #>  .\Runner.exe . | Format-Table

    Directory: C:\users\joel\Projects\PoshCodeRunner\PoshCodeRunner

Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
d-----       12/17/2015   4:22 PM                bin
d-----       12/17/2015   4:22 PM                obj
d-----       12/17/2015   4:22 PM                Properties
-a----       12/17/2015   4:22 PM            189 App.config
-a----       12/17/2015   4:27 PM            170 packages.config
-a----       12/17/2015   4:54 PM           3097 PoshCodeRunner.csproj
-a----       12/17/2015   5:07 PM           2385 Program.cs
-a----       12/17/2015   5:07 PM           5632 Runner.exe

[468+]: .\Runner.exe . | Select -first 1


    Directory: C:\users\joel\Projects\PoshCodeRunner\PoshCodeRunner


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
d-----       12/17/2015   4:22 PM                bin

Runner.cs

// Here's the code for my PowerShell script runner
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Management.Automation;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Reflection;

namespace PoshCode
{
    class Runner
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (var ps = PowerShell.Create())
            {
                // use "AddScript" to add the contents of a script file to the end of the execution pipeline.
                // use "AddCommand" to add individual commands/cmdlets to the end of the execution pipeline.
                ps.AddScript("param($path) Get-ChildItem $path");

                // use "AddParameter" to add a single parameter to the last command/script on the pipeline.
                ps.AddParameter("path", args);

                Console.Out.WriteLine("#< CLIXML");
                Console.Out.WriteLine(PSSerializer.Serialize(ps.Invoke()));
            }
        }
    }    
}