Random VS Code tips: PowerShell regions

Do you even fold?

I probably don’t use this a lot but it’s still handy to know. Have you noticed when you create a function that you get a chevron on the gutter between line numbers and line start?

Folding regions are based on lines of code that have similar indentation like inside a function, script block, comment help etc.

But I recently discovered how to collapse a group of lines with the use of the region comment, see below

#region codes

Write-Information "Command = $($myinvocation.mycommand)" -Tags Meta
Write-Information "PSVersion = $($PSVersionTable.PSVersion)" -Tags Meta
Write-Information "User = $env:userdomain\$env:username" -tags Meta

#endregion

So for example, when you hover over the line where the #region comment is you will get the chevron to collapse everything between #region and #endregion.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Furthermore you can use shortcuts to collapse a group of text like a region or script block, just click a line within the group you want to collapse and then use:

• Fold: Ctrl + Shift + [

• Unfold: Ctrl + Shift + ]

Outline

Another handy thing I noticed is that in the outline pane in VS Code, regions and blocks of code are displayed in a tree making it easy to jump to certain parts of your script. If you give your region good descriptions then it will be make it easier to navigate long scripts.

Resources

• Folding in Visual Studio Code

• Use Regions in PowerShell ISE - Scripting Blog [archived] (microsoft.com)