Get-PSCallStack

Applies To: Windows PowerShell 2.0

Displays the current call stack.

Syntax

Get-PSCallStack [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Get-PSCallStack cmdlet displays the current call stack.

Although it is designed to be used with the Windows PowerShell debugger, you can use this cmdlet to display the call stack in a script or function outside of the debugger.

To run a Get-PSCallStack command while in the debugger, type "k" or "get-pscallstack".

Parameters

<CommonParameters>

This command supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug, ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, OutBuffer, OutVariable, WarningAction, and WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

Inputs and Outputs

The input type is the type of the objects that you can pipe to the cmdlet. The return type is the type of the objects that the cmdlet returns.

Inputs	None You cannot pipe objects to this cmdlet.
Outputs	System.Management.Automation.CallStackFrame Get-PSCallStack returns an object that represents the items in the call stack.

Example 1

C:\PS>function my-alias { 
   $p = $args[0]
   get-alias | where {$_.definition -like "*$p"} | ft definition, name -auto
}

PS C:\ps-test> set-psbreakpoint -command my-alias
    
Command    : my-alias
Action     :
Enabled    : True
HitCount   : 0
Id         : 0
Script     : prompt
    
    
PS C:\ps-test> my-alias get-content
Entering debug mode. Use h or ? for help.

Hit Command breakpoint on 'prompt:my-alias'

my-alias get-content

[DBG]: PS C:\ps-test> s
$p = $args[0]

DEBUG: Stepped to ':    $p = $args[0]    '

[DBG]: PS C:\ps-test> s
get-alias | Where {$_.Definition -like "*$p*"} | ft Definition,

[DBG]: PS C:\ps-test>get-pscallstack

Name        CommandLineParameters         UnboundArguments              Location
----        ---------------------         ----------------              --------
prompt      {}                            {}                            prompt
my-alias    {}                            {get-content}                 prompt
prompt      {}                            {}                            prompt


[DBG]: PS C:\ps-test> o
    
Definition  Name
----------  ----
Get-Content gc
Get-Content cat
Get-Content type

Description

-----------

This command uses the Get-PSCallStack cmdlet to display the call stack for My-Alias, a simple function that gets the aliases for a cmdlet name.

The first command enters the function at the Windows PowerShell prompt. The second command uses the Set-PSBreakpoint cmdlet to set a breakpoint on the My-Alias function. The third command uses the My-Alias function to get all of the aliases in the current session for the Get-Content cmdlet.

The debugger breaks in at the function call. Two consecutive step-into (s) commands begin executing the function line by line. Then, a Get-PSCallStack command is used to retrieve the call stack.

The final command is a Step-Out command (o) that exits the debugger and continues executing the script to completion.

See Also

Concepts

about_Debuggers
Set-PSBreakpoint
Get-PSBreakpoint
Enable-PSBreakpoint
Disable-PSBreakpoint
Remove-PSBreakpoint