PowerShell Measure-Command Cmdlet

PowerShell Measure-Command

When I want to improve the speed of my scripts I employ Measure-Command to count time.  There is a sister cmdlet called Measure-Object which deals with maths, such as counting files.

Topics for Measure-Command

This is PowerShell's equivalent of 'Time' in Bash; Measure-Command is a more convenient than Microsoft’s resource kit’s TimeIT.

• PowerShell Measure-Command
• Research More Options for Measure-Command
• Research Similar Cmdlets: Measure-Object

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PowerShell Measure-Command

Searching for the correct WMI class with Get-WmiObject can take so long that I begin to question if I have used the wrong syntax.  Here are two methods for researching the names of WMI classes, let us see which script is the quicker.

Method 1 Where-Object
I want to find all the WMI classes containing ‘OperatingSystem’.

Result: 208 milliseconds (slow).

Note 1: Observe the structure of this timing technique:
Measure-Command {Script to time}

Method 2 Use Wildcards
When I was a beginner it took me ages to master Where-Object.  Now as a more experienced script writer I have discovered the benefits of employing alternatives to the Where clause.

Result: 48 milliseconds (faster).

Note 2: You will get different values, but I bet there will be a clear pattern, method 1, which incorporates Where-Object, takes 5 times longer than method 2 which uses wildcards in the Win32 class name.

Note 3: Running the script for a second time will result in a faster time due to caching.

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Background on the WMI Command

Here below is the information I wanted to find with:
Get-WmiObject -Class "Win32_*OperatingSystem*" -List

Research More Options for Measure-Command

You may have already noted the main properties in the units of time displayed in the output; however, here is the command to list the properties and methods.

Note 4: You need any valid PowerShell command inside the {braces} for GM (Get-Member) to display the properties.

To display the results only in milliseconds try encasing the whole command in (parenthesis) then append .milliseconds

Note 5: Try other units of time such as .Ticks

Get More Examples and Check Measure-Command’s Parameters

This is a rare case where Get-Help revealed no interesting parameters, but if you want to see more examples try this trusty method:

Research Similar ‘Measure’ Cmdlets

See the sister cmdlet Measure-Object »

Summary of PowerShell Measure-Command

When you write PowerShell scripts to solve computer problems there are usually alternative techniques, the benefit of Measure-Command is that you can see which option executes fastest.  However, if it’s maths such as average file size, then call for the sister command Measure-Object.

See more Microsoft PowerShell Examples of Real Life Tasks

• PowerShell Real-life Examples   • Test-Connection   • Invoke-Expression   • Invoke-Command

• Windows PowerShell   • Com   • PowerShell -Filter Where-Object   • PowerShell 3 Rename-Computer

• PowerShell Registry   • Compare-Object Registry   • Measure-Object   • Measure-Command

Please email me if you have a better example script. Also please report any factual mistakes, grammatical errors or broken links, I will be happy to correct the fault.