Cmdlet Class Declaration
A Microsoft .NET Framework class is declared as a cmdlet by specifying the Cmdlet attribute as metadata for the class. (The Cmdlet attribute is the only required attribute for all cmdlets). When you specify the Cmdlet attribute, you must specify the verb-and-noun pair that identifies the cmdlet to the user. And, you must describe the Windows PowerShell functionality that the cmdlet supports. For more information about the declaration syntax that is used to specify the Cmdlet attribute, see Cmdlet Attribute Declaration.
Note
The Cmdlet attribute is defined by the System.Management.Automation.CmdletAttribute class. The properties of this class correspond to the declaration parameters that are used when you declare the attribute.
Nouns
The noun of the cmdlet specifies the resources upon which the cmdlet acts. The noun differentiates your cmdlets from other cmdlets.
Nouns in cmdlet names must be specific, and in the case of generic nouns, such as server, it is
best to add a short prefix that differentiates your resource from other similar resources. For
example, a cmdlet name that includes a noun with a prefix is Get-SQLServer. The combination of a
specific noun with a more general verb enables the user to quickly locate the cmdlet by its action
and then identify the cmdlet by its resource while avoiding unnecessary cmdlet name duplication.
For a list of special characters that cannot be used in cmdlet names, see Required Development Guidelines.
Verbs
When you specify a verb, the development guidelines require you to use one of the predefined verbs provided by Windows PowerShell. By using one of these predefined verbs, you will ensure consistency between the cmdlets that you write and the cmdlets that are written by Microsoft and by others. For example, the "Get" verb is used for cmdlets that retrieve data.
For more information about guidelines for verbs, see Cmdlet Verb Names. For a list of special characters that cannot be used in cmdlet names, see Required Development Guidelines.
Supporting Windows PowerShell Functionality
The Cmdlet attribute also allows you to specify that your cmdlet supports some of the common functionality that is provided by Windows PowerShell. This includes support for common functionality such as user feedback confirmation (referred to as support for the ShouldProcess feature) and support for transactions. (Support for transactions was introduced in Windows PowerShell 2.0).
For more information about the declaration syntax that is used to specify the Cmdlet attribute, see Cmdlet Attribute Declaration.
Cmdlet Class Definition
The following code is the definition for a GetProc cmdlet class. Notice that Pascal casing is used and that the name of the class includes the verb and noun of the cmdlet.
[Cmdlet(VerbsCommon.Get, "Proc")]
public class GetProcCommand : Cmdlet
Pascal Casing
When you name cmdlets, use Pascal casing. For example, the Get-Item and Get-ItemProperty cmdlets
show the correct way to use capitalization when you are naming cmdlets.
See Also
System.Management.Automation.CmdletAttribute
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