Helper Scripts Directory

Repository Location: https://github.com/mytech-today-now/scripts

This directory contains reusable helper scripts that can be included in other PowerShell scripts to provide common functionality.

Note: The canonical version of these helper scripts is hosted in the separate scripts repository on GitHub. This allows scripts from any repository to load the helpers via GitHub URL.

Purpose

The helper scripts repository serves as a centralized location for:

• Utility functions that are used across multiple scripts
• Helper modules that provide specific functionality
• Shared code to follow DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principles
• Standardized implementations of common patterns
• Remote loading - Scripts can load helpers from GitHub URL

Available Helper Scripts

📝 logging.ps1 - Generic Logging Module

Purpose: Provides centralized logging functionality for all myTech.Today PowerShell scripts.

Features:

• Centralized logging to C:\mytech.today\logs\
• Monthly log rotation (one file per month)
• Cyclical logging with 10MB size limit
• Markdown table format for structured logging
• ASCII-only indicators (no emoji) - [INFO], [OK], [WARN], [ERROR]
• Console output with color coding
• Can be imported from GitHub URL
• PowerShell 5.1+ compatible

Usage:

# Method 1: Load from GitHub (recommended for distributed scripts)
$loggingUrl = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mytech-today-now/PowerShellScripts/main/scripts/logging.ps1'
Invoke-Expression (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $loggingUrl -UseBasicParsing).Content

# Method 2: Dot-source from local path (for development)
. "$PSScriptRoot\..\scripts\logging.ps1"

# Initialize logging
Initialize-Log -ScriptName "MyScript" -ScriptVersion "1.0.0"

# Write log entries
Write-Log "Script started" -Level INFO
Write-Log "Operation completed successfully" -Level SUCCESS
Write-Log "Warning: Configuration file not found" -Level WARNING
Write-Log "Error: Failed to connect to server" -Level ERROR

# Get current log path
$logPath = Get-LogPath
Write-Host "Logging to: $logPath"

Available Functions:

Core Functions:

• Initialize-Log - Initializes logging for a script with monthly rotation
• Write-Log - Writes log entries to console and file
• Get-LogPath - Returns the current log file path

Log Levels:

Level	Indicator	Console Color	Description
INFO	[INFO]	Cyan	Informational messages
SUCCESS	[OK]	Green	Success messages
WARNING	[WARN]	Yellow	Warning messages
ERROR	[ERROR]	Red	Error messages

Log File Format:

# MyScript Log

**Script Version:** 1.0.0
**Log Started:** 2025-11-09 12:00:00
**Computer:** HOSTNAME
**User:** USERNAME

---

## Activity Log

| Timestamp | Level | Message |
|-----------|-------|---------|
| 2025-11-09 12:00:01 | [INFO] | Script started |
| 2025-11-09 12:00:02 | [OK] | Operation completed successfully |
| 2025-11-09 12:00:03 | [WARN] | Warning: Configuration file not found |
| 2025-11-09 12:00:04 | [ERROR] | Error: Failed to connect to server |

Example:

# Load the logging module
$loggingUrl = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mytech-today-now/PowerShellScripts/main/scripts/logging.ps1'
Invoke-Expression (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $loggingUrl -UseBasicParsing).Content

# Initialize logging
Initialize-Log -ScriptName "BackupScript" -ScriptVersion "1.0.0"

# Script logic with logging
Write-Log "Starting backup process..." -Level INFO

try {
    Write-Log "Backing up files..." -Level INFO
    # ... backup logic ...
    Write-Log "Backup completed successfully" -Level SUCCESS
}
catch {
    Write-Log "Backup failed: $_" -Level ERROR
    throw
}

---

📐 responsive.ps1 - Responsive GUI Helper

Purpose: Provides comprehensive responsive GUI functionality for PowerShell Windows Forms applications.

Features:

• Automatic DPI detection and scaling
• Support for all screen resolutions from VGA (640x480) to 8K UHD (7680x4320)
• Helper functions for creating responsive controls
• Standardized base dimensions and scaling patterns
• Caching for performance optimization

Usage:

# Method 1: Load from GitHub (recommended for distributed scripts)
$responsiveUrl = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mytech-today-now/scripts/refs/heads/main/responsive.ps1'
Invoke-Expression (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $responsiveUrl -UseBasicParsing).Content

# Method 2: Dot-source from local path (for development)
. "$PSScriptRoot\..\scripts\responsive.ps1"

# Then use the functions:
$scaleInfo = Get-ResponsiveDPIScale
$form = New-ResponsiveForm -Title "My App" -Width 800 -Height 600
$button = New-ResponsiveButton -Text "Click Me" -X 20 -Y 20

Available Functions:

Core Functions:

• Get-ResponsiveDPIScale - Detects screen resolution and calculates DPI scale factor
• Get-ResponsiveBaseDimensions - Returns standard base dimensions for GUI elements
• Get-ResponsiveScaledValue - Scales a value based on DPI scale factor

Control Creation Functions:

• New-ResponsiveForm - Creates a responsive Windows Form
• New-ResponsiveLabel - Creates a responsive Label control
• New-ResponsiveTextBox - Creates a responsive TextBox control
• New-ResponsiveButton - Creates a responsive Button control
• New-ResponsiveCheckBox - Creates a responsive CheckBox control
• New-ResponsiveComboBox - Creates a responsive ComboBox control
• New-ResponsiveProgressBar - Creates a responsive ProgressBar control
• New-ResponsiveNumericUpDown - Creates a responsive NumericUpDown control

Example:

# Load the helper
$responsiveUrl = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mytech-today-now/scripts/refs/heads/main/responsive.ps1'
Invoke-Expression (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $responsiveUrl -UseBasicParsing).Content

# Create a responsive form
$form = New-ResponsiveForm -Title "User Information" -Width 500 -Height 300

# Add controls
$lblName = New-ResponsiveLabel -Text "Name:" -X 20 -Y 20 -Width 100
$txtName = New-ResponsiveTextBox -X 130 -Y 20 -Width 250

$lblAge = New-ResponsiveLabel -Text "Age:" -X 20 -Y 60 -Width 100
$numAge = New-ResponsiveNumericUpDown -X 130 -Y 60 -Width 120 -Minimum 0 -Maximum 120

$btnOK = New-ResponsiveButton -Text "OK" -X 20 -Y 100 -Width 100
$btnCancel = New-ResponsiveButton -Text "Cancel" -X 130 -Y 100 -Width 100

# Add to form
$form.Controls.AddRange(@($lblName, $txtName, $lblAge, $numAge, $btnOK, $btnCancel))

# Show the form
$form.ShowDialog()

---

How to Use Helper Scripts

From GitHub (Recommended for Production)

Load helper scripts directly from GitHub to ensure you always have the latest version:

# Load a helper script from GitHub
$helperUrl = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mytech-today-now/PowerShellScripts/main/scripts/HELPER_NAME.ps1'
try {
    Invoke-Expression (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $helperUrl -UseBasicParsing).Content
    Write-Host "Helper loaded successfully" -ForegroundColor Green
}
catch {
    Write-Error "Failed to load helper: $_"
    exit 1
}

From Local Path (For Development)

When developing locally, you can dot-source the helper script:

# Assuming your script is in a subdirectory of the repository
. "$PSScriptRoot\..\scripts\HELPER_NAME.ps1"

With Caching (For Performance)

Cache the helper script locally to avoid repeated downloads:

$helperUrl = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mytech-today-now/scripts/refs/heads/main/responsive.ps1'
$cacheFile = Join-Path $env:TEMP 'responsive-helper.ps1'

# Download if not cached or older than 1 day
if (-not (Test-Path $cacheFile) -or ((Get-Item $cacheFile).LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-1))) {
    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $helperUrl -OutFile $cacheFile -UseBasicParsing
}

# Load from cache
. $cacheFile

---

Best Practices

1. Version Pinning: For production scripts, consider pinning to a specific commit or tag:

   $helperUrl = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mytech-today-now/scripts/v1.0.0/responsive.ps1'

2. Error Handling: Always wrap helper loading in try-catch blocks:

   try {
       Invoke-Expression (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $helperUrl -UseBasicParsing).Content
   }
   catch {
       Write-Error "Failed to load helper: $_"
       exit 1
   }

3. Offline Support: Provide fallback for offline scenarios:

   $localHelper = "$PSScriptRoot\..\scripts\responsive.ps1"
   if (Test-Path $localHelper) {
       . $localHelper
   }
   else {
       # Try to download from GitHub
       Invoke-Expression (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $helperUrl -UseBasicParsing).Content
   }

4. Documentation: Always document which helper scripts your script depends on in the script header.

---

Adding New Helper Scripts

When creating new helper scripts for this directory:

1. Follow naming conventions: Use descriptive, lowercase names with hyphens (e.g., responsive.ps1, logging-utils.ps1)

2. Include comprehensive documentation:

   • Synopsis and description
   • Parameter documentation
   • Usage examples
   • Version information

3. Export functions explicitly: Use Export-ModuleMember to clearly define the public API

4. Add to this README: Document the new helper script in this file

5. Update .augment/ guidelines: Add the new helper to the Augment AI guidelines

---

Contributing

When adding or modifying helper scripts:

• Ensure backward compatibility when possible
• Update version numbers in script headers
• Add comprehensive examples
• Test with multiple PowerShell versions
• Document breaking changes in CHANGELOG

---

License

All helper scripts in this directory are part of the PowerShellScripts repository and are subject to the repository's license terms.

Copyright (c) 2025 myTech.Today. All rights reserved.