Powershell script only runs in certain scenarios

Question

I have a functions that only works on some scensarios.

It works on Powershell ISE, but when I save the same thing in a .Ps1 file and run it, it doest not work.
I have the function as part of a big script. It works and open the Window when I run it on Windows 7 but doest not run on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Why?

The script with the function and its calling is:

Function Get-SaveFileTxt($initialDirectory) 
{ 
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.windows.forms") | 
Out-Null 

$SaveFileDialog = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.SaveFileDialog 
$SaveFileDialog.initialDirectory = $initialDirectory 
$SaveFileDialog.AddExtension = $true 
$SaveFileDialog.DefaultExt = "txt" 
$SaveFileDialog.filter = "Text Files (*.txt)| *.txt" 
$SaveFileDialog.ShowDialog() | Out-Null 
$SaveFileDialog.filename 
} 

Get-SaveFileTxt

"it does not work"? Be more specific on what error you get, please. — Torbjörn Bergstedt
– Torbjörn Bergstedt, Commented Aug 8, 2012 at 7:09
@tbergstedt Try it. The script remains execution without error, apparently nothing happens. — Ricardo Polo Jaramillo
– Ricardo Polo Jaramillo, Commented Aug 8, 2012 at 13:20

Shay Levy · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-08 13:43:00Z

1

Not sure if this is the case here but I remember a bug that the opened dialog doesn't take focus and appear behind other opened windows. Can you confirm?

UPDATE:

Set the ShowHelp property to $true.

$SaveFileDialog.ShowHelp = $true

It works in the ISE because ISE's apartment state is STA by default and your powershell mode is MTA, you can check it with:

[System.Threading.Thread]::CurrentThread.ApartmentState

Your code will work if you open powershell in STA mode:

powershell.exe -STA

edited Aug 8, 2012 at 13:43

answered Aug 8, 2012 at 8:16

Shay Levy

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3 Comments

Ricardo Polo Jaramillo Over a year ago

Thank you @Shay. It does not look to open an reamain behind, looks like nothing happens.

Ricardo Polo Jaramillo Over a year ago

interesting. What do ShowHelp propertly exactly? It totally changes the interface, With Showhelp in false the form looks like this: dl.dropbox.com/u/300838/false.png with true look like this dl.dropbox.com/u/300838/true.png

Shay Levy Over a year ago

It's hard for me to explain, this is something that relates to developers (which I'm not), from what I can tell it is required when you work with GUI.

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