Get class of returned object by PowerShell command - determine a cmdlet's output data type

Question

In PowerShell, if a command returns an array of one or more objects, I can find out the class of the object by the following method:

$ab = SampleCommand
$ab[0].getType()

But, how can I find out the default return type of a command if the command returned nothing (array of 0 values)?

Note: For example, I am working on SCOM PowerShell commands, and I am trying to find the default return class type of command get-scomscadvisoragent, but it returns nothing as the advisor agent is not configured in my lab setup. Hence, I am not able to get the class of returned object.

If something returns nothing, the return type is $null/[System.Void]. — Maximilian Burszley
– Maximilian Burszley, Commented Jun 14, 2018 at 17:21
Generically speaking, gettype().Name and gettype().DeclaredFields are also two very useful properties of that method. — Dennis
– Dennis, Commented Dec 28, 2022 at 13:07

mklement0 · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-14 18:18:11Z

11

If you want to determine the type of objects a given command outputs in principle, use (Get-Command <cmd>).OutputType; in your case:

(Get-Command get-scomscadvisoragent).OutputType

Note, however, that this only works if the target command has explicitly declared its output types via one or more OutputType attributes.

Cmdlets / advanced functions may alternatively / additionally describe their output types in a less formal way, via the .OUTPUTS section of their help text (in comment-based help).
Therefore, if the above didn't work, you can also try:

(Get-Help get-scomscadvisoragent).returnvalues

The latter information can also be found in the OUTPUTS section of the output from
Get-Help -Full <cmd>.

edited Jun 14, 2018 at 18:18

answered Jun 14, 2018 at 18:01

mklement0

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