Read-Host - PowerShell command help and examples

Reads a line of input from the console. (Read-Host)

... Examples      
 NAME
 
    Read-Host 

 SYNOPSIS
 
    Reads a line of input from the console. 

 SYNTAX
 
    Read-Host [[-Prompt] <Object>] [-AsSecureString] [<CommonParameters>] 

 DESCRIPTION
 
    The Read-Host cmdlet reads a line of input from the console. You can use it to prompt a user for input. Because you can save the input as a secure string, you can use this cmdlet to prompt users for secure data, such as passwords, as well as shared data. 

 PARAMETERS
 
    -AsSecureString [<SwitchParameter>] 
        Displays asterisks (*) in place of the characters that the user types as input. 

        When you use this parameter, the output of the Read-Host cmdlet is a SecureString object (System.Security.SecureString). 

        Required?                    false 
        Position?                    named 
        Default value 
        Accept pipeline input?       false 
        Accept wildcard characters?  false 

    -Prompt <Object> 
        Specifies the text of the prompt. Type a string. If the string includes spaces, enclose it in quotation marks. For example, "Type an integer:  ". 

        Required?                    false 
        Position?                    1 
        Default value 
        Accept pipeline input?       false 
        Accept wildcard characters?  false 

    <CommonParameters> 
        This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug, 
        ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable, 
        OutBuffer and OutVariable. For more information, type, 
        "get-help about_commonparameters". 

 INPUTS
 
    None 
        You cannot pipe input to this cmdlet. 

 OUTPUTS
 
    System.String or System.Security.SecureString 
        If the AsSecureString parameter is used, Read-Host returns a SecureString. Otherwise, it returns a string. 

 NOTES
 

 Examples
    
EXAMPLE 1
 

    C:\PS>$age = read-host "Please enter your age:"

     Description
 
    ----------- 
    This command displays the string "Please enter your age:" as a prompt. When a value is entered and the Enter key is pressed, the value is stored in the $age variable. 

    
EXAMPLE 2
 

    C:\PS>$pwd_secure_string = read-host "Enter a Password:" -assecurestring 

     Description
 
    ----------- 
    This command displays the string "Enter a Password:" as a prompt. As a value is being entered, asterisks (*) appear on the console in place of the input. When the Enter key is pressed, the value is stored as a SecureString object in the $pwd_secure_string variable. 

RELATED LINKS 
    Online version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113371 
    Get-Host 
    Out-Host 
    Write-Host 
    ConvertFrom-SecureString 

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