Cmdlet

Show-ConsoleError

Module: ConsoleMonster
Inputs: System.Object
Outputs: ConsoleMonster.Layout.IWidget

Shows errors and exceptions readably: type, message, position, script stack, frames and inner errors.

Syntax

Show-ConsoleError
[-AsString]
[-AsWidget]
[-Compact]
[[-InputObject] <Object>]
[-MaxFrames <Int32>]
[-NoStack]
[-ShowFrameworkFrames]
[-Width <Int32>]
[<CommonParameters>]

Parameter set: All Parameter Sets

Description

Takes ErrorRecords (from $Error, $_ in a catch block, -ErrorVariable) and .NET exceptions from the pipeline. Each shows the type and the message, the category and error id, PowerShell's position message with the failing line, the script stack, the .NET frames as Type.Method() with shortened paths and file:line links, framework frames collapsed into "+n framework frames", and the inner exceptions as "Caused by". With -AsWidget the views are returned for New-ConsolePanel, dashboards or Export-ConsoleFrame instead of written. Redirected output is plain text.

Examples

Example 1

$Error[0] | Show-ConsoleError

The last error

Example 2

try { Get-Item C:\missing -ErrorAction Stop } catch { $_ | Show-ConsoleError -ShowFrameworkFrames }

In a catch block, with the framework frames

Parameters

-AsString SwitchParameter optional: Writes the view as one string of plain text instead of drawing it, to keep it in a variable or a file from any script, function or PowerShell version. Without it, PowerShell 7.2+ captures a view typed at the prompt ($x = ..., > file, Out-File); inside scripts and functions, and on Windows PowerShell 5.1, the view is drawn on the screen. Piped into another command (Out-Host, Out-String, Select-String) the view goes on as plain lines, without colour. Cannot be combined with -PassThru.
-AsWidget SwitchParameter optional: Returns the views instead of writing them.
-Compact SwitchParameter optional: Uses the message-first everyday error layout, highlighted invocation and folded inner exceptions. Stacks remain hidden unless -ShowFrameworkFrames is requested.
-InputObject Object optionalposition: 0pipeline: True (ByValue): An ErrorRecord, an exception or a message (pipeline input).
-MaxFrames Int32 optional: The most app frames shown per error (default 8).
-NoStack SwitchParameter optional: Leaves out the stack frames: type, message and position only.
-ShowFrameworkFrames SwitchParameter optional: Shows framework frames (System, Microsoft, the PowerShell engine) instead of collapsing them.
-Width Int32 optional: Lays the output out for this width instead of the terminal's.

Common Parameters

This command supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutVariable, -OutBuffer, -PipelineVariable, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable.

For more information, see about_CommonParameters.