Question

I’d like a function to test for the existence of a command (cmdlet, function, alias, etc.) in PowerShell. It should behave like this:

PS C:\> Test-Command ls
True
PS C:\> Test-Command lss
False

I have a function that works but strikes me as neither idiomatic nor elegant. Is there a more posh way to do this:

function Test-Command( [string] $CommandName )
{
    $ret = $false
    try
    {
        $ret = @(Get-Command $CommandName -ErrorAction Stop).length -gt 0
    }
    catch
    {
        # do nothing
    }
    return $ret
}

Bonus question:

Python : pythonic :: PowerShell : ?

I’d say posh but is there something else in common use?

Answer 1

How about this:

function Test-Command( [string] $CommandName )
{
    (Get-Command $CommandName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -ne $null
}

(BTW, I like posh )