AvoidUsingWriteHost.md

description	ms.custom	ms.date	ms.topic	title
Avoid Using Write-Host	PSSA v1.21.0	06/28/2023	reference	AvoidUsingWriteHost

AvoidUsingWriteHost

Severity Level: Warning

Description

The use of Write-Host is greatly discouraged unless in the use of commands with the Show verb. The Show verb explicitly means 'show on the screen, with no other possibilities'.

Commands with the Show verb do not have this check applied.

How

Replace Write-Host with Write-Output or Write-Verbose depending on whether the intention is logging or returning one or more objects.

Example

Wrong

function Get-MeaningOfLife
{
    ...
    Write-Host 'Computing the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything'
    ...
    Write-Host 42
}

Correct

function Get-MeaningOfLife
{
    [CmdletBinding()]Param() # to make it possible to set the VerbosePreference when calling the function
    ...
    Write-Verbose 'Computing the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything'
    ...
    Write-Output 42
}

function Show-Something
{
    Write-Host 'show something on screen'
}