Power Shell - equivalent of a Windows CMD or MS-DOS batch file

Run a powershell scriptA PowerShell script should be saved with a .ps1 extension, e.g. MyScript.ps1.
Before running any scripts on a new powershell installation, you must first set an appropriate Execution Policy, e.g. Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

There are two ways to run a PowerShell script.
The most common (default) way to run a script is by calling it:
  PS C:\> & "C:\Belfry\My first Script.ps1"
If the path does not contain any spaces, then you can omit the quotes and the '&' operator
  PS C:\> C:\Belfry\Myscript.ps1
If the script is in the current directory, you must indicate this using .\
  PS C:\> .\Myscript.ps1
When you invoke a script using the syntax above, variables and functions defined in the script will disappear when the script ends.1

Dot Sourcing
When you dot source a script, all variables and functions defined in the script will persist even when the script ends.
Run a script by dot-sourcing it:
  PS C:\> . "C:\Belfry\My first Script.ps1"
Dot-sourcing a script in the current directory:
  PS C:\> . .\Myscript.ps1"

The System Path
  If you run a script (or even just enter a command) without specifying the fully qualified path name, PowerShell will search for it as follows:
Firstly it will look at currently defined aliases, then currently defined functions and lastly commands located in the system path.
1unless they are explicitly defined as globals: Function SCOPE:GLOBAL or Filter SCOPE:GLOBAL or Set-Variable -scope "Global"

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
function writelog
{
    param([string]$LogFile, [string]$data)
   
        Write-Host $data
    if ($LogFolder -ne "")
    {
        $data >> $LogFile
    }else
    {
    }   
}
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
function ZIPFolder
{
    param( [string]$sourcefolder, [string]$outputfolder, [int]$retention, [string]$LogFolder )
    $CompareDate=(Get-Date).AddDays(-$retention)
    writelog $LogFolder ""
    writelog $LogFolder "-- Search file old or equal this date: $CompareDate"
   
    $a = Get-ChildItem -recurse $sourcefolder | where-object {$_.LastWriteTime -le $CompareDate}
   
    foreach($x in $a)
    {
        writelog $LogFolder "    evaluating file: $x"
        #try/catch only Works in version 2
        try
        {
#            $y = ((Get-Date) - $x.CreationTime).Days
            $y = ((Get-Date) - $x.LastWriteTime).Days
       
#            if ($y -gt $retention -and $x.PsISContainer -ne $True)
            if ($x.PsISContainer -ne $True)
            {
#            $FileDate =Get-Date -format "dd-MMM-yyyy"
#                $FileDate=($x.LastWriteTime).tostring("yyyy-mm-dd")
                $FileDate=($x.LastWriteTime).tostring("yyyy-MM-dd") 
                $outputFile="$outputfolder$FileDate-output.zip"
                writelog $LogFolder "    Start ZIP file $x to package $outputFile"           
                $x |ZIPFile $outputFile
           
                writelog $LogFolder "    deleting file: $x"
#                $x.delete()
           
                writelog $LogFolder "    Finished ZIP $x --> $outputFile, source file deleted"
                writelog $LogFolder ""
            }else
            {
               
            }
        }
        catch
        {
           writelog $LogFolder $_.Exception.ToString()
        }       
    }
    writelog $LogFolder "-- END Search file old or equal this date: $CompareDate"
}
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
function ZIPFile
{
    param([string]$zipfilename)   
    if(-not (test-path($zipfilename)))
    {
        set-content $zipfilename ("PK" + [char]5 + [char]6 + ("$([char]0)" * 18))
        (dir $zipfilename).IsReadOnly = $false    
    }
   
    $shellApplication = new-object -com shell.application
    $zipPackage = $shellApplication.NameSpace($zipfilename)
#    $Path=$zipfilename.Remove($zipfilename.LastIndexOf("\")+1)
    foreach($file in $input)
    {
#write-host $zipPackage.Items().Contains($file)
#write-host $zipPackage.Items(0).tostring()
#        if (-not (Test-Path("$zipfilename\$file")))
#        {
        $zipPackage.CopyHere($file.FullName,0x16)
        Start-sleep -milliseconds 500
#        }
    }
}
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Create a New Zip

function New-Zip
{
 param([string]$zipfilename)
 set-content $zipfilename ("PK" + [char]5 + [char]6 + ("$([char]0)" * 18))
 (dir $zipfilename).IsReadOnly = $false
}

usage: new-zip c:\demo\myzip.zip

2. Add files to a zip via a pipeline

function Add-Zip
{
 param([string]$zipfilename)

 if(-not (test-path($zipfilename)))
 {
  set-content $zipfilename ("PK" + [char]5 + [char]6 + ("$([char]0)" * 18))
  (dir $zipfilename).IsReadOnly = $false 
 }
 
 $shellApplication = new-object -com shell.application
 $zipPackage = $shellApplication.NameSpace($zipfilename)
 
 foreach($file in $input) 
 { 
            $zipPackage.CopyHere($file.FullName)
            Start-sleep -milliseconds 500
 }
}

usage: dir c:\demo\files\*.* -Recurse | add-Zip c:\demo\myzip.zip

3. List the files in a zip

function Get-Zip
{
 param([string]$zipfilename)
 if(test-path($zipfilename))
 {
  $shellApplication = new-object -com shell.application
  $zipPackage = $shellApplication.NameSpace($zipfilename)
  $zipPackage.Items() | Select Path
 }
}

usage: Get-Zip c:\demo\myzip.zip

4. Extract the files form the zip

function Extract-Zip
{
 param([string]$zipfilename, [string] $destination)

 if(test-path($zipfilename))
 { 
  $shellApplication = new-object -com shell.application
  $zipPackage = $shellApplication.NameSpace($zipfilename)
  $destinationFolder = $shellApplication.NameSpace($destination)
  $destinationFolder.CopyHere($zipPackage.Items())
 }
}

usage: extract-zip c:\demo\myzip.zip c:\demo\destination

So, how do we package the Vista Sidebar Gadget?

dir <path_to_gadget_files | add-Zip <path_to_gadget_zip>
Rename-Item <path_to_gadget_zip> <path_to_gadget_zip>.Gadget

shell.application .copyhere option problems - PowerShellCommunity