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PowerGadgets Features

PowerGadgets leverages PowerShell to create gadgets in Windows XP and Windows Vista without being limited to events or indicators that are predefined by other server manageability and monitoring applications.

PowerGadgets Core Cmdlets

Once you have provisioned your computer with Windows PowerShell and PowerGadgets you can start creating visually rich gadgets in Windows Vista and Windows XP. PowerGadgets provides 3 main cmdlets:

• Out-Chart
• Out-Gauge
• Out-Map

• Out-chart

  

  PowerGadgets provides a powerful charting engine providing over 60 chart types and a wealth of aesthetical and functional features. A chart plots data in the form of series and points with each series containing one or more points.

• Out-gauge

  

  PowerGadgets provides an out-gauge cmdlet to display single-variable data in radial, linear and digital-panel gauges. Single-variable analysis is very powerful when combined with PowerGadgets' flexible real-time capabilities.

• Out-map

  

  PowerGadgets provides a mapping component that allows you to depict enterprise data on geographical maps or even on your own custom SVGs. PowerGadgets includes a comprehensive SVG map library that covers most geographic mapping needs.

Graphical Wizards and Templates

PowerGadgets exposes the same design-time experience found in much more graphical design surfaces like Visual Studio. Just add the -configure switch to any of your PowerGadgets cmdlets and a powerful graphical Wizard that allows simple customization of chart, map and gauge settings. When used, a configuration file (template) is saved (My Documents folder) and you can then use the -template switch to load and apply these settings quickly and easily. This script below will give you access to the PowerGadgets wizard which provides a GUI for quickly customizing the chart elements. As you manipulate properties, the chart will display the changes. You can save these settings and use them to overwrite the default PowerGadgets values.

To invoke the wizard:

get-process | out-chart -configure -template MyChartTemplate

Innovative Functionality

Powerful Real-Time Engine

PowerGadgets provides real-time serialization and execution of the entire command so you can monitor real-time data from your desktop using a combination of visually-rich charts, gauges and maps.

No Coding Involved

PowerGadgets exposes the same design-time experience found in much more graphical design surfaces like Visual Studio. Simply use PowerGadgets' graphical Wizards to change settings.

SQL Server Connectivity

PowerGadgets can easily connect to a SQL Server (or any ODBC-compliant database) and extract information. Running a SQL query from your desktop is as easy as typing into a command window.

Easy Distribution and Deployment

To restribute a PowerGadgets file, simply email or copy the gadget files to another system. A user with a valid license of PowerGadgets installed can then double click to display the gadget!

Multiple Windows Environments

PowerGadgets will run in Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server environments and can run in either the desktop or on the Windows Vista Sidebar.

PowerGadgets Forums

A Sidenote About Windows Sidebar

Windows Vista provides the Windows Sidebar to manage gadgets. When installed, PowerGadgets also installs the necessary files to create .gadget files in Windows Sidebar.

With Windows Sidebar open, double-click on the PowerGadgets icon and a placeholder gadget will appear in Sidebar. The final step in making a gadget functional is to write a PowerShell script adding the -sidebar switch with the identifier of the gadget you want to use. For example, to create a chart with the machine processes, you can write the following script in PowerShell:

get-process | out-chart -sidebar gadget1

This script will bind the data and create your gadget in the Sidebar.

Once a gadget has been created and bound to data, you can expand the gadget by dragging it outside the boundaries of the Sidebar, the gadget will increase its size showing more chart elements like legends, axis labels as well as a fully functional toolbar that enables users to change the chart aesthetics. You can click and position the mouse over different chart elements to perform complex data analysis.

You can share these gadgets with other productivity applications like Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

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