Is there a way to set a variable up to place output to stdout or null?

Question

I would like to set up a variable in my code that would ultimately define if I\'ll see some output or not.

• \"hello\" writes to stdout

Answer 1

Again may not be the best way, but works.

As @Bender the Greatest has already mentioned a function with [CmdletBinding] should help the purpose.

I'll try to provide a very basic example -

A selective logger function like this -

function Selective-Log {
 [CmdletBinding()]
 param(
     [Parameter()]
     [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
     [string]$Message,

     [Parameter()]
     [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
     [ValidateSet('Info','Warning','Error')]
     [string]$Severity = 'Info'
 )

 if($Severity -eq 'Info'){
 Write-Output $Message > $null
 }else{
 Write-Output $Message 
 }}

Now when you use it in your scripts as

Selective-Log -Message Test1 -Severity Info

it wouldn't log anything

Then if you wish to log you'd choose severity other than Info

Selective-Log -Message Test2 -Severity Error

you could also use it like Selective-Log Test2 Error

Hope this helps someone