Powershell GUI - Adding bells & whistles

In my previous post “Gettingyour 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.

 #########################################################################################################

# 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

Get your feet wet with Powershell GUI

Here’s my latest attempt in creating a simple GUI using Powershell for Windows Resource Management Tasks. Powershell by itself is easy but there is hardly any documentation on the web for creating a cool GUI. You have to put together various bits and pieces by the trial and error method. Anyway I did come up with some success. However there is a lot to be desired. For some reason the results only show up when the GUI is closed through the Cancel or Exit button. Feel free to tweak the code as you please. The Windows Management Commands are some basic scripts taken from Powershell Pro.

This is the GUI that was created

Feel free to send me any comments.

[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Drawing") 

[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms") 

# Add functions

#*=============================================================================

Function BIOSInfo {

$colItems = Get-WmiObject Win32_BIOS -Namespace “root\CIMV2" -computername $strComputer

foreach($objItem in $colItems) {

       "------------------------------ Bios Info ---------------------"

       "Computer Name: "+ $strComputer

       "BIOS Characteristics: "+ $objItem.BiosCharacteristics

       "BIOS Version: "+ $objItem.BIOSVersion

       "Build Number: "+ $objItem.BuildNumber

       "Caption: "+ $objItem.Caption

       "Code Set: "+ $objItem.CodeSet

       "Current Language: "+ $objItem.CurrentLanguage

       "Description: "+ $objItem.Description

       "Identification Code: "+ $objItem.IdentificationCode

       "Installable Languages: "+ $objItem.InstallableLanguages

       "Installation Date: "+ $objItem.InstallDate

       "Language Edition: "+ $objItem.LanguageEdition

       "List Of Languages: "+ $objItem.ListOfLanguages

       "Manufacturer: "+ $objItem.Manufacturer

       "Name: " + $objItem.Name

       "Other Target Operating System: "+ $objItem.OtherTargetOS

       "Primary BIOS: "+ $objItem.PrimaryBIOS

       "Release Date: "+ $objItem.ReleaseDate

       "Serial Number: "+ $objItem.SerialNumber

       "SMBIOS BIOS Version: "+ $objItem.SMBIOSBIOSVersion

       "SMBIOS Major Version: "+ $objItem.SMBIOSMajorVersion

       "SMBIOS Minor Version: "+ $objItem.SMBIOSMinorVersion

       "SMBIOS Present: "+ $objItem.SMBIOSPresent

       "Software Element ID: "+ $objItem.SoftwareElementID

       "Software Element State: "+ $objItem.SoftwareElementState

       "Status: "+ $objItem.Status

       "Target Operating System: "+ $objItem.TargetOperatingSystem

       "Version: "+ $objItem.Version

      

}

}

Function OSInfo {

$colItems = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem -Namespace “root\CIMV2" -Computername $strComputer

foreach($objItem in $colItems) {

 "------------------------------ OS Info ---------------------"

 "Computer Name: "+ $strComputer

 “Operating System:” + $objItem.Name

}

}

Function CPUInfo {

$colItems = Get-WmiObject Win32_Processor -Namespace “root\CIMV2" -Computername $strComputer

foreach($objItem in $colItems) {

  "------------------------CPU Info -------------------------"

  "Computer Name: "+ $strComputer

  “Caption: ”+ $objItem.Caption

  “CPU Status: ”+ $objItem.CpuStatus

  “Current Clock Speed: ”+ $objItem.CurrentClockSpeed

  “Device ID: ”+ $objItem.DeviceID

  “L2 Cache Size: ”+ $objItem.L2CacheSize

  “L2 Cache Speed: ”+ $objItem.L2CacheSpeed

  “Name: ”+ $objItem.Name

  "System Name:" + $objItem.SystemName

}

}

Function DiskInfo {

$colItems = Get-WmiObject Win32_DiskDrive -Namespace “root\CIMV2" -ComputerName $strComputer

foreach($objItem in $colItems) {

  "------------------------- Disk Info --------------------"

  "Computer Name: "+ $strComputer

  “Description: ”+ $objItem.Description

  “Device ID: ”+ $objItem.DeviceID

  “Interface Type: ”+ $objItem.InterfaceType

  “Media Type: ”+ $objItem.MediaType

  “Model: ”+ $objItem.Model

  “Partitions: ”+ $objItem.Partitions

  “Size: ”+ $objItem.Size

  “Status: ”+ $objItem.Status

}

}

Function NetworkInfo {

$colItems = Get-WmiObject Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration -Namespace “root\CIMV2" -ComputerName $strComputer | where{$_.IPEnabled -eq “True”}

foreach($objItem in $colItems) {

 "------------------------------ Network Info ---------------------"

 "Computer Name: "+ $strComputer

 “DHCP Enabled:” + $objItem.DHCPEnabled

 “IP Address:” + $objItem.IPAddress

 “Subnet Mask:” + $objItem.IPSubnet

 “Gateway:” + $objItem.DefaultIPGateway

 “MAC Address:” + $ojbItem.MACAddress

}

}

Function SysInfo {

$colItems = Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem -Namespace “root\CIMV2" -ComputerName $strComputer

foreach($objItem in $colItems) {

"------------------------------ Sys Info ---------------------"

"Computer Name: "+ $strComputer

“Computer Manufacturer: ” + $objItem.Manufacturer

“Computer Model: ” + $objItem.Model

“Total Memory: ”  + $objItem.TotalPhysicalMemory + “bytes”

}

}

# Create a GUI Form

$objForm = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form 

$objForm.Text = "Data Entry Form"

$objForm.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(800,600) 

$objForm.StartPosition = "CenterScreen"

$objForm.KeyPreview = $True

#$objForm.Add_KeyDown({if ($_.KeyCode -eq "Enter") 

#    {$x=$objTextBox.Text;$objForm.Close()}})

$objForm.Add_KeyDown({if ($_.KeyCode -eq "Escape") 

    {$objForm.Close()}})

# Add a drop-down Combo box

$objComboBox = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Combobox

$objComboBox.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(250,250)

$objComboBox.Size  = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(280,20)

$objComboBox.Text = "Please select"

# Add items to Combo box

$commands = @("SysInfo","BIOSInfo","OSInfo","CPUInfo","DiskInfo","NetworkInfo")

ForEach ($command in  $commands){

    $objComboBox.items.add($command)

 }

# Add combo box to Userform

$objForm.Controls.Add($objComboBox)

# Set to the first item

$objComboBox.SelectedIndex = 0;

# Set selection to ComboBox selected text.

$selection = $objComboBox.Text;

write-host $selection

# Add a text box to the Userform

$objTextBox = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox 

$objTextBox.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(250,200) 

$objTextBox.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(280,20) 

$objForm.Controls.Add($objTextBox)

# Add an OK button and name it as  "Submit"

$OKButton = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button

$OKButton.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(250,400)

$OKButton.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(75,25)

$OKButton.Text = "Submit"

$objForm.Controls.Add($OKButton)

# Add a Cancel button

$CancelButton = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button

$CancelButton.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(350,400)

$CancelButton.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(75,23)

$CancelButton.Text = "Cancel"

$CancelButton.Add_Click({$objForm.Close()})

$objForm.Controls.Add($CancelButton)

# Add an Exit button

$ExitButton = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button

$ExitButton.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(450,400)

$ExitButton.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(75,23)

$ExitButton.Text = "Exit"

$ExitButton.Add_Click({$objForm.Close()})

$objForm.Controls.Add($ExitButton)

# Add a Text label

$objLabel = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label

$objLabel.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(250,180) 

$objLabel.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(280,20) 

$objLabel.Text = "Please enter a comma separated list of servers:"

$objForm.Controls.Add($objLabel) 

 # Add a Text label

$objLabel = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label

$objLabel.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(260,100) 

$objLabel.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(280,20) 

$objLabel.Text = "Windows Resource Management Tool"

$objForm.Controls.Add($objLabel) 

# Set form on top

$objForm.Topmost = $True

# Show fim

$objForm.Add_Shown({$objForm.Activate()})

[void] $objForm.ShowDialog()

$x = $objTextbox.text

$vals = $x.split(",")

foreach ($strComputer in $vals){

   write-host $strComputer

   }

$OKButton.Add_Click({

  

  

switch ($objComboBox.SelectedItem)

{

"SysInfo" {SysInfo}

"BIOSInfo" {BiosInfo}

"OSInfo" {OSInfo}

"CPUInfo" {CPUInfo}

"DiskInfo" {DiskInfo}

"NetworkInfo" {NetworkInfo}

}

$objForm.Close()})

# Set selection to ComboBox selected text.

$selection = $objComboBox.Text;

write-host $selection

foreach ($strComputer in $vals){

          switch($selection) {

"SysInfo" { SysInfo  }

"BIOSInfo" {BiosInfo}

"OSInfo" {OSInfo}

"CPUInfo" {CPUInfo}

"DiskInfo" {DiskInfo}

"NetworkInfo" {NetworkInfo}

          }

   } 

$x

Building a respectable VBA with Excel Application

VBA with Excel is not the right tool/language to solve mankind’s perennial question regarding the purpose of life. But it can come quite handy for several tasks for e.g. in quickly creating a Proof of Concept (PoC) or a prototype. It can also be quite useful for smaller tasks for e.g. 3G networks dimensioning, determining an investment portfolio, insurance schemes or maybe a smaller version of a Windows Resource Management tool. To take a quick look at how put together a VBA application quickly take a look at my earlier post “Stir fry a VBA with Excel application quickly”. This post takes a look at some key aspects in building a respectable, decent tool. Some of essential elements are as follows a) Launch button: Launch the application from the Excel sheet. For this you could add a button to the Excel sheet. For this select “View->Toolbars-Forms”. From the toolbar select a button and place it in the Excel sheet. Once you place the button appropriately select the button and choose the “Edit code” from the Forms toolbox. Add the following code Sub Button1_Click () UserForm1.Show End Sub The Userform1 is the form that you created with VBA toolbox.

b) Minimize button Now that you are able to launch the VBA application from the Excel spreadsheet you will also want to minimize the VBA form to check the output on the Excel sheet. For this add a button to the Userform probably “_” the icon for minimizing and add Private Sub CommandButton13_Click() Unload UserForm1 End Sub You could also do a Userform1. Hide but I found that once you did that and re-launched the application the combo-box’s list started to repeat. Unload essentially resets the Form and that was fine with me. c) Getting control of the Excel sheet: This is extremely important. Make sure that in the properties window of your userform you have ShowModal set as “false”. This will allow you to edit/change your Excel sheet even when the VBA application is running. d) Status Control: VBA does provide a “Status” control in the additional controls for the Userform toolbox. But I could not get it to work. So I added a textbox and update the text box with “Working …” and “Done.” e) Progress bar: If you want to add a progress bar do so by adding this control. For this right-click in the toolbox and choose additional controls. I did not have the need to use this but a good write up is available at O’Reilly Hacks This is the userform I created

Option Explicit
Dim servername
Dim row
Dim value

Private Sub CommandButton13_Click()
Unload UserForm1
End Sub
Private Sub CommandButton14_Click()
Unload UserForm1
End Sub

Private Sub CommandButton2_Click()
ComboBox1.ListIndex = 0
Me.OptionButton1.value = True
TextBox1.value = ""
End Sub

Private Sub CommandButton3_Click()
Unload UserForm1
End Sub

Private Sub TextBox1_Change()
servername = TextBox1.value
End Sub
Private Sub UserForm_Activate()
With ComboBox1
    ComboBox1.AddItem "Physical Memory Properties"
    ComboBox1.AddItem "Get Server Info"
    ...
    ....
    End With
Me.Label17.Font.Bold = True
Me.MultiPage1.ForeColor = vbBlue
ComboBox1.ListIndex = 0
Me.OptionButton1.value = True
row = 25
End Sub
Private Sub ComboBox1_Click()
Dim x
Select Case ComboBox1.Text
   Case "Physical Memory Properties"
        value = 1
   Case "Get Server Info"
        value = 2
   ...
   ...        
End Select

End Sub
Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()

If OptionButton1.value = True Then

Select Case value
   Case 1
        Call phy_mem_prop
   Case 2
        Call GetServerInfo
   ...
   ...          
End Select
Else
  If OptionButton2.value = True Then
     
    Select Case value
    Case 1
        Call phy_mem_prop_csv
    Case 2

        Call GetServerInfo_csv
  ...
  ...          
    End Select
    End If
 

End If
End Sub

Private Sub phy_mem_prop()
On Error Resume Next
Dim strComputer, i, objWMIService, strMemory, colItems
Dim strCapacity, objItem, installedModules, totalSlots
Dim strCapacityGB
Dim r As Range
Dim arrstring
Dim slogFile, objFs, objFile
Dim col
row = row + 3

arrstring = Split(servername, ",")
For Each strComputer In arrstring
i = 1
Application.StatusBar = "Working..."
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Italic = True
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Bold = False
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Size = 10
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Working..."

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_PhysicalMemory")

For Each objItem In colItems
    strCapacity = objItem.Capacity
    If strMemory <> "" Then strMemory = strMemory & vbCrLf
    strMemory = strMemory & "Bank" & i & " : " & (objItem.Capacity / 1048576) & " Mb"
    i = i + 1
Next
installedModules = i - 1

Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_PhysicalMemoryArray")
For Each objItem In colItems
    totalSlots = objItem.MemoryDevices
    strCapacity = (objItem.MaxCapacity / 1024)
    strCapacityGB = strCapacity / 1024
Next
'MsgBox "Total Slots: " & totalSlots & vbCrLf & _
         "Free Slots: " & (totalSlots - installedModules) & vbCrLf & _
         vbCrLf & "Installed Modules:" & vbCrLf & strMemory & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
         "Maximum Capacity for " & strComputer & ": " & strCapacityGB & " GB", vbOKOnly + vbInformation, "PC Memory Information"

Sheet1.Cells(row, 1).Font.Bold = True
Cells(row, 1) = "Physical Memory Properties"
row = row + 1

For col = 1 To 5
  Sheet1.Cells(row, col).Interior.Color = vbCyan
  Sheet1.Cells(row, col).Font.Bold = True
Next

Cells(row, 1) = "Computer Name: "
Cells(row, 2) = "Total Slots"
Cells(row, 3) = "Free Slots"
Cells(row, 4) = "Installed Modules"
Cells(row, 5) = "Maximum Capacity for"
row = row + 1
Cells(row, 1) = strComputer
Cells(row, 2) = totalSlots
Cells(row, 3) = totalSlots - installedModules
Cells(row, 4) = strMemory
Cells(row, 5) = strCapacityGB
Next
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Italic = False
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Done."
Application.StatusBar = "Done."
Application.StatusBar = False
End Sub

Private Sub phy_mem_prop_csv()
On Error Resume Next
Dim arrstring
Dim strComputer, i, objWMIService, strMemory, colItems
Dim strCapacity, objItem, installedModules, totalSlots
Dim strCapacityGB
Const FOR_APPEND = 8
Dim slogFile
Dim objFs, objFile
arrstring = Split(servername, ",")
For Each strComputer In arrstring
i = 1

Application.StatusBar = "Working..."
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Italic = True
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Bold = False
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Size = 10
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Working..."

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_PhysicalMemory")
For Each objItem In colItems
    strCapacity = objItem.Capacity
    If strMemory <> "" Then strMemory = strMemory & vbCrLf
    strMemory = strMemory & "Bank" & i & " : " & (objItem.Capacity / 1048576) & " Mb"
    i = i + 1
Next
installedModules = i - 1

Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_PhysicalMemoryArray")

For Each objItem In colItems
    totalSlots = objItem.MemoryDevices
    strCapacity = (objItem.MaxCapacity / 1024)
    strCapacityGB = strCapacity / 1024
Next

slogFile = "logfile.txt"
Set objFs = CreateObject("scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objFile = objFs.OpenTextFile(slogFile, FOR_APPEND, True)
objFile.writeline
objFile.writeline
objFile.writeline
objFile.writeline
objFile.writeline

objFile.writeline "Physical Memory Properties"
    objFile.writeline "Total slot = " & totalSlots & _
     "Free Slots = " & totalSlots - installedModules & _
         "Installed Modules = " & strMemory + _
         "Max capacity = " & strCapacityGB

         objFile.Close
         Set objFile = Nothing
         Set objFs = Nothing
  Next

UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Italic = False
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Done."
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Output in logfile.txt"
Application.StatusBar = "Done."
Application.StatusBar = False
End Sub
Sub GetServerInfo()
On Error Resume Next

Dim r As Range, i As Integer, N As Integer
Dim arrstring
Dim strComputer, colDisks, objDisk, objWMIService
Dim col
row = row + 3
Application.StatusBar = "Working..."
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Italic = True
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Bold = False
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Size = 10
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Working..."

arrstring = Split(servername, ",")
For Each strComputer In arrstring


Worksheets("sheet1").Activate
Set objWMIService = GetObject _
    ("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colDisks = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
         ("Select * From Win32_LogicalDisk")
     
Sheet1.Cells(row, 1).Font.Bold = True
Cells(row, 1) = "Server Information"
row = row + 1

For col = 1 To 4
  Sheet1.Cells(row, col).Interior.Color = vbCyan
  Sheet1.Cells(row, col).Font.Bold = True
Next
Cells(row, 1) = "Computer Name: "
         Cells(row, 2) = "Disk"
         Cells(row, 3) = "Free Space"
         Cells(row, 4) = "Total Size"
                  row = row + 1
Cells(row, 1) = strComputer
         For Each objDisk In colDisks
                        Cells(row, 2) = objDisk.DeviceID
             If objDisk.FreeSpace < 1073741824 Then
                                        Cells(row, 3) = objDisk.FreeSpace / 1024 / 1024
                            Else
                   
                     Cells(row, 3) = objDisk.FreeSpace / 1024 / 1024
            End If
            Cells(row, 4) = objDisk.Size / 1024 / 1024
            row = row + 1
                    Next
Next
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Italic = False
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Done."
Application.StatusBar = "Done."
Application.StatusBar = False
End Sub

Sub GetServerInfo_csv()
On Error Resume Next

Dim arrstring
Dim strComputer, colDisks, objDisk, objWMIService
Dim slogFile
Dim objFs, objFile
Const FOR_APPEND = 8
arrstring = Split(servername, ",")
For Each strComputer In arrstring
Application.StatusBar = "Working..."
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Italic = True
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Bold = False
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Size = 10
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Working..."
Set objWMIService = GetObject _
    ("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colDisks = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
         ("Select * From Win32_LogicalDisk")
slogFile = "logfile.txt"
Set objFs = CreateObject("scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objFile = objFs.OpenTextFile(slogFile, FOR_APPEND, True)
objFile.writeline
objFile.writeline
objFile.writeline
objFile.writeline
objFile.writeline
objFile.writeline "Server Information"
objFile.writeline "Computer Name: ,Disk, Free Space, Total Size"
 objFile.write strComputer & ","
         For Each objDisk In colDisks
               objFile.write objDisk.DeviceID & ","
             If objDisk.FreeSpace < 1073741824 Then
                   objFile.write objDisk.FreeSpace / 1024 / 1024 & ","
                            Else
                 
                     objFile.write objDisk.FreeSpace / 1024 / 1024 & ","
            End If
            objFile.writeline objDisk.Size / 1024 / 1024 & ","
                   
          Next
          Next
          objFile.Close
         Set objFile = Nothing
         Set objFs = Nothing
       
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Italic = False
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Done."
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Output in logfile.txt"
Application.StatusBar = "Done."
Application.StatusBar = False
       
End Sub

Sub GetService()
On Error Resume Next
Dim strstring
Dim r As Range, i As Integer, N As Integer
Dim col
Dim arrstring
Dim strComputer, colWMIThings, objItem, objWMIService
row = row + 4
Application.StatusBar = "Working..."
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Italic = True
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Bold = False
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Size = 10
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Working..."
arrstring = Split(servername, ",")
For Each strComputer In arrstring
'MsgBox (servername)
Worksheets("sheet1").Activate
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colWMIThings = _
    objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_service")
Sheet1.Cells(row, 1).Font.Bold = True
Cells(row, 1) = "Services"
row = row + 1
For col = 1 To 4
  Sheet1.Cells(row, col).Interior.Color = vbCyan
  Sheet1.Cells(row, col).Font.Bold = True
Next
Cells(row, 1) = "Computer Name: "
Cells(row, 2) = "Service name"
Cells(row, 3) = "Status"
Cells(row, 4) = "Strtup Mode"
row = row + 1
Cells(row, 1) = strComputer
    For Each objItem In colWMIThings
                If objItem.State = "Stopped" And objItem.StartMode = "Auto" Then
            Cells(row, 2) = objItem.DisplayName
        Else
            Cells(row, 2) = objItem.DisplayName
        End If
        Cells(row, 3) = objItem.State
        Cells(row, 4) = objItem.StartMode
        row = row + 1
    Next
    Next
UserForm1.TextBox5.Font.Italic = False
UserForm1.TextBox5 = "Done."
Application.StatusBar = "Done."
Application.StatusBar = False
End Sub

Windows Resource Management Tool – Technology choices

There are the following technology choices for a Windows Automation Tool

a) VBA with Excel
b) Perl
c) Powershell
d) HTML for Applications (HTA)

1. VBA with Excel
VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) with Excel is good option to consider. VBA allows for a quick development of a fairly reasonable user interface. VBA includes a Userform to which one can controls like textbox, listbox, combo box, radio button etc. These controls can then invoke VBscripts in the background which can perform resource management tasks. For some more detail on how to create the Userform with controls look at my earlier post Stir fry a VBA application quickly. Besides, the results can be populated in the Excel sheet

A screen shot of a VBA with Excel is shown below

Pros
a. Ease of building a GUI using the Visual Basic User form with appropriate controls
b. The VBA will include VBscripts that will perform resource management tasks
c. Can populate the results into Excel sheet.
d. The results from the Excel sheet can be saved as CSV, HTML etc

Cons
a. Not all client sites have MS Office installed on them. This makes it difficult to deploy Excel with VBA.

2. Perl

Perl allows for easy creation of scripts to manage Windows Resources. The language is easy to use and facilitates quick prototyping. However Perl by itself does not provide for the creation of a GUI. Perl scripts can only be run in command line mode.

Pros
a. Ease of scripting

Cons
a. Does not allow for creation of a GUI


3. Powershell
Powershell is a convenient way for creating resource management scripts. It is surprising the Microsoft took such a long time to progress from the clunky “command” shell to Powershell which is more on the lines of Korn, Bourne and Unix shell. The nice part is that instead of the cryptic Unix commands the commands have a verb-noun combination for e.g. get-date, get-command etc. The benefit of Powershell is the extensive help that is available for each command. Powershell is in many ways similar to Perl. Building a GUI with Powershell is quite involved and requires quite a bit of programming. Moreover Powershell is installed by default only on Windows 7 and later. For an excellent tutorial on Powershell do read Powershell tutorial by Jesse Hamrick

Pros
a. Ease of scripting for resource management
b. Extensive help available for query while building resource management commands
c. Can format output easily into list, table or Excel sheet
d. Easy to build stand-alone scripts


Cons
a. Building a GUI based tool is fairly involved


4. HTML Applications (HTA)
HTML application brings the power of the browser for the front end with VBscript or JScript as the backend. But to build a easy to use GUI there is a need to use Web page builders like Microsoft’s FrontPage, Dreamweaver etc. The controls on the Web page can invoke VBScript to run resource management tasks

Pros
a. Can build a user-friendly front-end using Web page builder tools
b. Resource management tasks can be executed by VBscript

Cons
a. Needs a regular Web page building tool like MS FrontPage or Dreamweaver

Stir fry a VBA with Excel application quickly

Stir fry a VBA with Excel prototype quickly

This is bound to bring a sense of deja-vu to you. How often have you come across a situation where your boss comes all excited about a new idea? So he says

Boss: “I have a new idea. Can you quickly come up with a prototype?”
You: “Sure” As you say this your mind is quickly assessing various tools, IDEs, languages. You are wondering whether you should go with Java or Ruby on Rails, Python-Django etc.
Then your boss drops the bombshell
Boss: “And by the way I need the Proof of Concept (PoC) yesterday!”

You are deflated as you try to pick your crumpled physical remains from the floor.

For all these situations VBA with Excel is good choice to quickly put a prototype together. If you know any other language VBscript should be a breeze. In fact this is a very useful skill to know whether you are a seasoned programmer, a marketing or sales veteran or a novice programmer. VBA is quite useful for prototyping applications with a fairly simple and straightforward GUI.

You could be building a prototype to dimension a Core Network – determining the number of SS7 links, the traffic on various links or you may want to prepare a rudimentary tax calculator. You may want to process the sales in a quarter and display it in a pretty way. For many purposes VBA fits the bill quite well particularly when you need to hit the road right way.

Here is a highly condensed version of VBscript

Variables: Declared/defined with Dim sValue. There is no explicit typing
Global Variables: Add the Dim aValue at the top.
Branching:
If cond1 then Else if cond2 Else Endif.
Select case var1 case “a” case “b” End Select
There is also the Go To
Loops:
Do {while|until} condition statements Loop
Do statements Loop {while|until} condition
For I = 1 to 10 step 2 statement Next
For each element in group statements Next
Procedure: Sub proc (a,b) statements End Sub. Procedure called with Call proc(x,y)
Function: Function test (a,b) statements End function. Invoked with test(x,y)
Output: MsgBox “Hello world”
You could write to Excel sheet with
Cells (3, 1) = value where row 3, column 1 would be populated with value
Writing to File:
slogfile = "logfile.txt"
Set objFs = CreateObject("scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objFile = objFs.CreateTextFile(slogfile)
objFile.writeLine "Total slot = " & totalSlots
objFile.Close

With this you should be good to get started on some basic application.

Create a new Excel sheet. Click Tools->Macro->Visual basic Editor. Then click Insert->userform

You should see something like this

Assume that you want to include some VBscripts to perform some common tasks that you often do.

You could add components from the VB Toolbox. I created something like this.

When you click on the component it will take you to the code where you can write the procedure you want.

To populate a combo box you will have to add the following code for e.g.

Private Sub UserForm_Activate()
With ComboBox1
ComboBox1.AddItem "Physical Memory Properties"
ComboBox1.AddItem "Enumerate Port"
ComboBox1.AddItem "Basic Computer Information"
ComboBox1.AddItem "Inventory Information"

End With
End Sub

When the 1st item is clicked it will call the phy_sys_prop procedure
Private Sub ComboBox1_Click()
Dim x
Select Case ComboBox1.Text
Case "Physical Memory Properties"
Call phy_mem_prop
End Select

We can have multiple forms/tabs as shown with radio-buttons, text boxes, spin buttons, list boxes etc.

To execute the code click the green > at the top

This is what the output will look like. It also populates the Excel sheet.. This code was taken from Microsoft’s Technet Script Center Repository

VBA with Excel is definitely useful to know.

The code for the form is shown below

Private Sub UserForm_Activate()

With ComboBox1
ComboBox1.AddItem "Physical Memory Properties"
ComboBox1.AddItem "Enumerate Port"
ComboBox1.AddItem "Basic Computer Information"
ComboBox1.AddItem "Inventory Information"

End With
End Sub

Private Sub phy_mem_prop()
Dim strComputer, i, objWMIService, strMemory, colItems
Dim strCapacity, objItem, installedModules, totalSlots
Dim strCapacityGB
Dim r As Range
Set r = Range("A2")


strComputer = InputBox("Enter PC Name or IP:", "PC Name")
strMemory = ""
i = 1

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_PhysicalMemory")

For Each objItem In colItems
strCapacity = objItem.Capacity
If strMemory <> "" Then strMemory = strMemory & vbCrLf
strMemory = strMemory & "Bank" & i & " : " & (objItem.Capacity / 1048576) & " Mb"
i = i + 1
Next
installedModules = i - 1

Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_PhysicalMemoryArray")

For Each objItem In colItems
totalSlots = objItem.MemoryDevices
strCapacity = (objItem.MaxCapacity / 1024)
strCapacityGB = strCapacity / 1024
Next


MsgBox "Total Slots: " & totalSlots & vbCrLf & _
"Free Slots: " & (totalSlots - installedModules) & vbCrLf & _
vbCrLf & "Installed Modules:" & vbCrLf & strMemory & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
"Maximum Capacity for " & strComputer & ": " & strCapacityGB & " GB", vbOKOnly + vbInformation, "PC Memory Information"

Cells(2, 1) = "Total Slots"
Cells(2, 2) = "Free Slots"
Cells(2, 3) = "Installed Modules"
Cells(2, 4) = "Maximum Capacity for"
Cells(3, 1) = totalSlots
Cells(3, 2) = totalSlots - installedModules
Cells(3, 3) = strMemory
Cells(3, 4) = strCapacityGB

slogfile = "logfile.txt"
Set objFs = CreateObject("scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objFile = objFs.CreateTextFile(slogfile)
objFile.writeLine "Total slot = " & totalSlots & _
"Free Slots = " & totalSlots - installedModules & _
"Installed Modules = " & strMemory + _
"Max capacity = " & strCapacityGB

objFile.Close
Set objFile = Nothing
Set objFs = Nothing

End Sub

Private Sub ComboBox1_Click()
Dim x
Select Case ComboBox1.Text
Case "Physical Memory Properties"
Call phy_mem_prop
End Select

End Sub

Stacks of protocol stacks - A primer

Communication protocols like any other technology arrive on the scene to solve a particular problem. Some protocols endure while many perish. The last 60 years or so have seen a true proliferation of protocols in various domains.

So what is a protocol?

In my opinion a protocol is any pre-defined set of communication rules. For e.g. consider the exchange between you and me.

Me: “Thank You”
You: “You’re welcome”.

A more complex exchange could be

You: “How are you doing today?”
Me:” Fine. And yourself?”
You: “Great”

These are “protocols of courtesy or decorum”. There are many such protocols in daily use so there is little wonder that the technological world is full of protocols.
So then what is a protocol stack?

Let us take this hypothetical example. Assume that the CEO of company ABC Inc. wants to talk to CEO of XYZ Inc. This is how this would work in the context of an organizational protocol stack.

CEO (ABC Inc.) to secretary: “Can you arrange for a call with CEO (XYZ Inc.)?”
Secretary (ABC Inc.): “Sure.”

Next the secretary of ABC Inc. will make a call to secretary of XYZ Inc. The exchange would go like this.

Secretary (ABC Inc.): “My CEO would like to have a talk with your CEO”.
Secretary (XYZ Inc.) looks up her CEOs calendar and says
Secretary (XYZ Inc.): My CEO will be free between 3.00 pm – 3.30 pm

So at 3.15 pm

CEO (ABC Inc.) calls CEO (XYZ Inc.): “Can we have a round of golf this weekend?”
CEO (XYZ Inc.): “Absolutely!”

This is typically what also happens in communication protocol stacks. The lower layers provide functions to upper layers (for e.g. the secretary to CEO). Once the lower layers establish the communication channels the upper layers (CEOs) can communicate.

Now is that all there is protocols and protocol stack? In a way, yes. However if we return to our 2nd exchange we could have received any of the following responses

You: “How are you doing today?”
Me:” Will you shut up?”

Or

You: “How are you doing today?”
Me: Sigh.

In other words the protocol suite must take into account all the moods of the communicating parties at either end. So there will be what is known as “sunny day” scenarios and “error scenarios”

This is essentially the basics of any communication protocol whether it is in the internet domain, telecom (SS7 domain), IEEE or any other domain.

Stacks of protocol stacks

Communication protocols like any other technology arrive on the scene to solve a particular problem. Some protocols endure while many perish. The last 60 years or so have seen a true proliferation of protocols in various domains.

So what is a protocol?

In my opinion a protocol is any pre-defined set of communication rules. For e.g. consider the exchange between me and you
Me: “Thank You”
You: “You’re welcome”.

A more complex exchange could be

You: “How are you doing today?”
Me:”Fine. And yourself?”
You: “Great”

These are “protocols of courtesy or decorum”. There are many such protocols in daily use so there is little wonder that the technological world is full of protocols.

A couple of decades back there were 3 main standard bodies that came up with protocols namely IEEE (for LANs), IETF for the internet and ITU-T for telecom. Now there are many more bodies for e.g. CableLabs for cable television, WiMAX forum for WiMAX, NFC Forum etc.

Also protocols exist both for wired and the wireless domain. The protocols differ based on the distance for which the protocol will apply. This post will try to take a look at the some of most important in this. Certainly many will slip through the cracks, so beware!

Near Field Communication (NFC): This is a wireless protocol of the order of a few centimeters primarily for contactless data transfers. Its primary use is for mobile payment. As opposed to Bluetooth there will be no necessity for device pairing. The NFC standards are maintained by the NFC Forum.

Bluetooth: This is another wireless protocol and uses the 2.4- 2.48 GHz band for data exchange and is commonly used in mobile phones, TVs, and other devices. This protocol requires pairing of devices prior to data transfer. The Bluetooth details are maintained in Bluetooth Special Interest Group.

Zigbee: Zigbee is a low powered, low cost wireless protocol that will connect devices within residential homes. Zigbee has a data rate of 250 kbps and is based on the IEEE 802 standard for Personal Area Network (PAN) or Home Area Network (HAN). Zigbee will be protocol of choice in the Smart Home which will be part of Smart Grid concept. More details can be found at the Zigbee Alliance.

LAN protocols: LAN protocols are wired protocols. The main 3 LAN protocols are IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet), IEEE 802.4 (Token Bus) & IEEE (Token Ring) are used in enterprises, schools or small buildings of the order of a few 100 meters. LAN protocols ensure transmission speeds of the order of 10 Mbps – 40 Mbps.

WiFi: WiFi provides wireless access in residential homes, airports, cafes at a distance of 20 meters with speeds of 2 Mbps – 8 Mbps (802.11a/b/e/g). Wireless hotspots use WiFi protocols

Super WiFi/Whitespaces: Whitespaces refers to using abandoned TV frequency bands for wireless data transmission around the 700 MHz range. Whitespaces can travel larger distances typically around 100 km and through trees and walls. This is nascent technology and is based on IEEE 802.22 protocol. A new forum for taking this technology forward is the Whitespace Alliance.

Telecom protocols
ISDN: This protocol is governed by the Q.931 standards and was supposed to carry high speed data (64 kbps???) from residential homes, This protocol went into relative obscurity soon.

Wired Trunk protocols: There are several trunk protocols that connect digital exchanges (digital switches) for e.g. ISUP (Q.763), BTUP, TUP. These protocols exchange messages between central offices and are used for setting up, maintaining and release of STD voice calls.

Internet Protocols
The predominant protocol of the internet is TCP/IP (RFC 793). There are several other protocols that work in the internet. A few of them
Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP)
OSPF Open Shortest Path First protocol
Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP)
RSVP & DiffServ

WAN protocols: There is a variety of protocols to handle communication between regions or across a large metropolitan area. The most common among these are
MPLS: Multi-protocol Label System.
ATM : Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Frame relay:
X.25:


Protocols that are exist in both the Internet & Telecom domain
A number of protocols work in concert to setup, maintain and release multi-media sessions
SIP/SDP: Session Initiation Protocol (RFC 3261 et al) /Session Description Protocol (RFC 2327)
SCTP/RTP/RTSP: Session Control Transport Protocol/Real Time Protocol/Real Time Secure Protocol – These protocols are used to send and control media packets.
MGCP/Megaco: This is a protocol used to control the Softswitch.or the Media Gateway Controller (MGC)

WiMAX: (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. WiMAX offers data speeds in the range of 40 Mbps – 70 Mbps. This is an IEEE 802.16 family of protocols. Details about WiMAX can be obtained at WiMAX Forum.



DOCSIS: DOCSIS is the protocol that is used in cable TV and uses hybrid fiber co-axial cables for transmission. This protocol is also used these days for internet access. More details regarding the DOCSIS protocol can be found at CableLabs.

Note: I will be adding more substance and body to this post soon …

The Next Frontier

Published in Telecom Asia - The next frontier, 21 March 2012
In his classic book “The Innovator’s Dilemma” Prof. Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School presents several compelling cases of great organizations that fail because they did not address disruptive technologies, occurring in the periphery, with the unique mindset required in managing these disruptions.

In the book the author claims that when these disruptive technologies appeared on the horizon there were few takers for these technologies because there were no immediate applications for them. For e.g. when the hydraulic excavator appeared its performance was inferior to the existing predominant manual excavator. But in course of time the technology behind hydraulic excavators improved significantly to displace existing technologies. Similarly the appearance of 3.5 inch disk had no immediate takers in desktop computers but made its way to the laptop.

Similarly the mini computer giant Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) ignored the advent of the PC era and focused all its attention on making more powerful mini-computers. This led to the ultimate demise of DEC and several other organizations in this space. This book includes several such examples of organizations that went defunct because disruptive technologies ended up cannibalizing established technologies.

In the last couple of months we have seen technology trends pouring in. It is now accepted that cloud computing, mobile broadband, social networks, big data, LTE, Smart Grids, and Internet of Things will be key players in the world of our future. We are now at a point in time when serious disruption is not just possible but seems extremely likely. The IT Market Research firm IDC in its Directions 2012 believes that we are in the cusp of a Third Platform that will dominate the IT landscape.

There are several technologies that have been appearing on the periphery and have only gleaned marginal interest for e.g. Super Wi-Fi or Whitespaces which uses unlicensed spectrum to access larger distances of up to 100 kms. Whitespaces has been trialed by a few companies in the last year. Another interesting technology is WiMAX which provides speeds of 40 Mbps for distances of up to 50 km. WiMAX’s deployment has been spotty and has not led to widespread adoption in comparison to its apparent competitor LTE.

In the light of the technology entrants, the disruption in the near future may occur because of a paradigm shift which I would like to refer as the “Neighborhood Area Computing (NAC)” paradigm. It appears that technology will veer towards neighborhood computing given the bandwidth congestion issues of WAN. A neighborhood area network (NAN) will supplant the WAN for networks which address a community in a smaller geographical area

This will lead to three main trends

Neighborhood Area Networks (NAN): Major improvements in Neighborhood Area Networks (NAN) are inevitable given the rising importance of smart grids and M2M technology in the context of WAN latencies. Residential homes of the future will have a Home Area Network (HAN) based on bluetooth or Zigbee protocols connecting all electrical appliances. In a smart grid context NAN provides the connectivity between the Home Area Network (HAN) of a future Smart Home with the WAN network. While it is possible that the utility HAN network will be separate from the IP access network of the residential subscriber, the more likely possibility is that the HAN will be a subnet within the home network and will connect to NAN network.

The data generated from smart grids, m2m networks and mobile broadband will need to be stored and processed immediately through big data analytics on a neighborhood datacenter. Shorter range technologies like WiMAX, Super WiFi/ Whitespaces will transport the data to a neighborhood cloud on which a Hadoop based Big Data analytics will provide real time analytics

Death of the Personal Computer: The PC/laptop will soon give way to a cloud based computing platform similar to Google’s Chrome book. Not only will we store all our data on the cloud (music, photos, videos) we will also use the cloud for our daily computing needs. Given the high speeds of the NAN this should be quite feasible in the future. The cloud will remove our worries about virus attacks, patch updates and the need to buy new software. We will also begin to trust our data in the cloud as we progress to the future. Moreover the pay-per-use will be very attractive to consumers.

Exploding Datacenters: As mentioned above a serious drawback of the cloud is the WAN latency. It is quite likely that with the increases in processing powers and storage capacity coupled with dropping prices that cloud providers will have hundreds of data centers with around 1000 servers for each city rather than a few mega data centers with 10,000’s of servers. These data centers will address the computing needs of a community in a small geographical area. Such smaller data centers, typically in a small city, will solve 2 problems. One it will build into the cloud geographical redundancy besides also providing excellent performance as NAN latencies will be significantly less in comparison to WAN latencies.

These technologies will improve significantly and fill in the need for handling neighborhood high speed data

The future definitely points to computing in the neighborhood.