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Merged
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Mar 10, 2020
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Cross-Platform-OutGridView #203

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9112feb
Created RFC for Cross-Platform-OutGridView
Jun 5, 2019
ddcb092
fiximage hosting link
jzeiders Jun 25, 2019
c0c7031
Prepare RFC0057 (Cross-platform Out-GridView) for withdrawl
joeyaiello Mar 10, 2020
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82 changes: 82 additions & 0 deletions 2-Draft-Accepted/RFCNNNN-Cross-Platform-Out-GridView.md
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---
RFC:
Author: John Zeiders
Status: Draft
SupercededBy:
Version: 0.1
Area: Commands
Comments Due: 6/25/2019
---

# Cross Platform Out-GridView

Out-Gridview was a popular command in Windows PowerShell.
Its dependence on Windows Presentation Foundation API's meant that it didn't make it into PowerShell Core.

> The Out-GridView cmdlet sends the output from a command to a grid view window where the output is displayed in an interactive table.

# Motivation

The feature is a commonly cited reason for not migrating to Powershell Core and its implementation will help further adoption.

# Specification

## cmdlet

The cmdlet will be a modern implementation of [Out-GridView](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.utility/out-gridview?view=powershell-5.1) and also cross platform supported.

```powershell
Out-GridView
[-InputObject <PSObject>]
[-Title <String>]
[-PassThru]
[<CommonParameters>]

Out-GridView
[-InputObject <PSObject>]
[-Title <String>]
[-Wait]
[<CommonParameters>]

Out-GridView
[-InputObject <PSObject>]
[-Title <String>]
[-OutputMode <OutputModeOption>]
[<CommonParameters>]
```

## GUI

The GUI will be implemented on top of [Avalonia UI Framework](https://github.com/AvaloniaUI/Avalonia).
The project was chosen for its active development, implemented capabilities, modeling of WPF, and cross platform support.

A new feature `Show Script` will be added that will generate an equivalent PowerShell script that represents the filters manually applied to Out-GridView.
The goal being to enable better automation at scale while also allowing graphical editing of filters.

Wireframe of the new design.
The wireframe is intended for visual reference, it is **not** a pixel perfect representation.
The most important part to note is the new layout for filters as opposed to the original "Criteria Panel".

![Out-GridViewMockup](https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell-RFC/blob/9112feb522323ffbb55782ada8cdb6d618bbd83b/assets/Out-GridView/out_gridview_mockup.png)

## Module

Out-GridView will be added to the PowerShell Graphical Tools Module Microsoft.PowerShell.GraphicalTools.
Forming the basis for future cross-platform graphical commands.

## Removed Features

* Search in Column - Better solved by filters

# Alternative Proposals and Considerations

## GUI Frameworks

### Electron

Despite it's popularity as a cross-platform framework, it's slow boot times make it the wrong choice for a command that is frequently used to create confirmation and selection prompts.

### Web

An interesting concept, particularly interesting for the ability to integrate directly into VSCode.
However, the dependency on having a browser pre-installed makes it less than ideal.
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I don't understand this comment.

Certainly in the primary use-cases (core on Windows, core on Mac, core on WSL, core on Linux desktop) a browser will already exist. I find it unlikely that, in other cases where a graphical interface is needed, a browser won't exist.

I don't think it's reasonable to assume that Out-Gridview would be used in a nginx container. :-)

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Yes that's a fair point.

I will say...

Leveraging a web stack for a true Out-GridView that allows options like -PassThru to work is a lot of extra work because it involves having to leverage a web server in order to send the results from the web back to the PowerShell process which is hosting a web server.

I've personally looked into this, and it's a good chunk of work.

Leveraging a GUI framework that works nicely in process is much easier to manage.

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@TylerLeonhardt TylerLeonhardt Jun 27, 2019 •
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Przemyslaw did a great job with Out-HtmlView which is like Out-GridView but doesn't support PassThru - likely because he, like me, realized it's harder than first anticipated.

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Do you have metrics?

I use Out-HtmlView daily. Perhaps because I am aware of its limits, I do not feel constrained by those limits.

How often are other use-cases actually necessary?

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not sure if we have metrics but getting feedback at conferences... they need -PassThru. Lots of folks use it as a filter for what happens next in the pipeline.

example:
stop the processes you want.

Get-Process | Out-GridView -PassThru | Stop-Process

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-PassThru is absolutely necessary. Many IT scripts use it as a way to interactively select objects to act against (like a list of computers or users, etc...).

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I was certainly not coming out "against" -passthru as a requirement.

My point was (and is):

Certainly in the primary use-cases (core on Windows, core on Mac, core on WSL, core on Linux desktop) a browser will already exist. I find it unlikely that, in other cases where a graphical interface is needed, a browser won't exist.

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Right. The point is, though, that getting data back from a browser instance on the command line in a format that is usable (much less even remotely similar to what was originally put in) would be a bit of a tall order, I think.

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The wording of the RFC should be updated to shift focus from the "not having a browser" problem to the PassThru problem.

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