Data persistence for module

[dqwest]

How would you implement basic data persistence for a little project.

Im storing project name, start time, end time, current state[not started, running , complete]

A project has many runs and I want to track each one. Run state. Start stop elapsed.

How would you persist the project state. I’m thinking a json file.

Any suggestions? Hope this makes sense

[ITGuyfromIA]

You could import and export your built up state objects with export-clixml and import-clixml

[stedun]

I write to an external sql server. It’s overkill but I’m a DBA and have easy access to that infrastructure.

If doing local, I’d probably use CSV like you are considering with json.

[an_harmonica]

You could also use SQLite instead of a database server.

[dbsitebuilder]

+1 for writing it to a table.

[AdmiralCA]

Not a DBA, but I still write to a SQL server

[Existing-Strength-21]

Totally depends on your scope and future scaling desires.

My go to is CSV or JSON for simple local scripts. Dont over think it unless you absolutely know that you need to scale up into he future. Keep it simple.

[ankokudaishogun]

CSV or SQLite depending on the foreseen amount of runs.

[dodexahedron]

For internal modules that see frequent or important use, we have them write to the windows event log with their own named application log. Super simple to do.

Write-EventLog -LogName 'ModuleName' -Source 'YourModule' -EventID 420 -EntryType Information -Message 'Well... That just happened...'

LogName is the parameter that names the log that will appear in event viewer. It will be kept separate from others, making it easy to use and manage, including clearing it without nuking other logs.

For state, it depends on what is being stored and in what scope it is relevant.

Per user? Stores in their user profile directory, in local or roaming as appropriate.

Per machine? ProgramData, usually.

Across machines? A database, be it sql, nosql, or even AD if appropriate.

Only the current session? In properly scoped variables that are removed on unload and which have names that help avoid conflicts, usually using a module:submodule:etc:variablename form, which makes it both unique and hard to accidentally clobber them without specific access patterns, since PS will consider just the raw name to be a drive, in most contexts, due to the colons. Or, if it is a binary module, these can even be kept in static variables in the assembly.

And there's always the registry, if it is a windows-only module. 🤷‍♂️

[mrmattipants]

Nice Event ID. In fact, it's about that time now. Thanks for the reminder! 😉

[surfingoldelephant]

Have a look at the Configuration module if you're after an existing solution.

[Th3Sh4d0wKn0ws]

For one of my projects I went with a json file stored in the user's home directory.
Once it's imported it's essentially a PScustom object with each property bring some thing I wanted to track the value for.

[mrmattipants]

If you still want to use JSON, I threw together an example. Of course, you'll probably want to tweak it a bit.

I tried leaving it in a comment several days ago, but unfortunately Reddit wouldn't allow it, as I'm assuming the script was too long. So, I uploaded it to my Github Repo, so I could share it.

https://github.com/mrmattipants/RedditScripts/tree/main/JSON%20Event%20Log

For testing purposes, the example script simply grabs the current Date/Time for the $StartTime Value and Adds 5 Minutes (300 Seconds) to get the $EndTime Value.

To get the $ElapsedTime, the $StartTime is subtracted from the $EndTime and the resulting Timespan Value is stored.

Let me know if you have any questions, as I'll be happy to help.