Error in PowerShell one liner for browser process management - powershell

Question

I'm trying to run a code in PowerShell in one line. This code is a loop that's used for surveillance. If Microsoft Edge is opened the process has to close Chrome.
My code it works well if Edge is not opened, it goes right by the if condition, but if Edge is opened it returns me an error in the else condition.
System is Windows 10 with PowerShell ISE.
$a = 1 ;DO { 'Starting Loop' ; $vischk = get-process | where-object {$_.mainwindowhandle -ne 0 -and $_.MainWindowTitle -eq 'Start - Microsoft Edge'} | select-object name, mainwindowtitle ; if (!($vischk)) {Write-Warning 'Microsoft Edge is off'}else{Write-Warning 'Closing Chrome' Stop-Process -name chrome} ; Write-Warning 'Active surveillance' ; Start-Sleep -s 15} While ($a -le 2)
I need to run the surveillance window and when Microsoft Edge is opened, close another browser like chrome or another process name.

Answer 1

This is also not a One-Liner, it's a long script all put on one line. ;-},
hence your use of the semicolon. Semicolon means what is before it and after it
are independent code blocks.
I get that use case in an interactive consolehost thing, but in a script, well,
that's an entirely different thing.
Yet, doing this. the way you have it is a choice. Dev in the ISE, save the file,
run from the console directly or shell out to it from the ISE.
Also the way you are checking for the MS Edge instance is not correct. The
MainWindowTitle is only 'Microsoft Edge'
Get-Process -Name MicrosoftEdge | select *
<#
Name : MicrosoftEdge
Id : 6388
PriorityClass : Normal
...
ProductVersion : 11.00.17763.529
Description : Microsoft Edge
Product : Microsoft Edge
__NounName : Process
...
SafeHandle : Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles.SafeProcessHandle
MachineName : .
MainWindowHandle : 132100
MainWindowTitle : Microsoft Edge
MainModule : System.Diagnostics.ProcessModule (MicrosoftEdge.exe)
MaxWorkingSet : 1413120
MinWorkingSet : 204800
Modules : {System....
#>
$Code = #'
$a = 1
DO {
'Starting Loop'
$vischk = get-process |
where-object {
$_.mainwindowhandle -ne 0 -and
$_.MainWindowTitle -eq 'Microsoft Edge'
} | select-object name, mainwindowtitle
if (!($vischk))
{Write-Warning 'Microsoft Edge is off'}
else{
Write-Warning 'Closing Chrome'
Stop-Process -name chrome
}
Write-Warning 'Active surveillance'
Start-Sleep -s 3}
While ($a -le 2)
'#
You can stay in the ISE to test code, but as Olaf points out, your user may not be the same. So, you need to validate both environments. You can stay in the ISE and test your code there as well as in the consolehost.
So, to test code using a consolehost instance from the ISE/VSCode without typing in the console.
Start-Process powershell -ArgumentList "-NoExit","-Command &{ $Code }" -Wait
Or
Start-Process pwsh -ArgumentList "-NoExit","-Command &{ $Code }" -Wait
Or just open the consolehost and run the script
The above works, as designed based on your defined case.
I agree with Olaf here as well, you need to add more error checking for what is and is not running for this to be more operationally sound. Don't run code you don't need to run if a target does not exist.