Ask user for file path to save - powershell

Question

This is what I was going for
$x = Get-Process
$y = Get-Date -Format yyyy-MM-dd_hh.mmtt
$SelPath = Read-Host -Prompt "Choose a location to save the file?"
$Path = $SelPath + 'Running Process' + ' ' + $FixedDate + '.txt'
$x | Out-File $Path

Answer 1

"Read-Host". For example:
$folder = Read-Host "Folder location"

Answer 2

While the links provided in the comments show the use of the FolderBrowserDialog, all of these fail to show it as a Topmost form and also do not dispose of the form when done.
Here's two functions that ensure the dialog gets displayed on top.
The first one uses the Shell.Application Com object:
# Show an Open Folder Dialog and return the directory selected by the user.
function Get-FolderName {
[CmdletBinding()]
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, ValueFromPipeline=$true, ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true, Position=0)]
[string]$Message = "Select a directory.",
[string]$InitialDirectory = [System.Environment+SpecialFolder]::MyDocuments,
[switch]$ShowNewFolderButton
)
$browserForFolderOptions = 0x00000041 # BIF_RETURNONLYFSDIRS -bor BIF_NEWDIALOGSTYLE
if (!$ShowNewFolderButton) { $browserForFolderOptions += 0x00000200 } # BIF_NONEWFOLDERBUTTON
$browser = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application
# To make the dialog topmost, you need to supply the Window handle of the current process
[intPtr]$handle = [System.Diagnostics.Process]::GetCurrentProcess().MainWindowHandle
# see: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/bb773205(v=vs.85).aspx
$folder = $browser.BrowseForFolder($handle, $Message, $browserForFolderOptions, $InitialDirectory)
$result = $null
if ($folder) {
$result = $folder.Self.Path
}
# Release and remove the used Com object from memory
[System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($browser) | Out-Null
[System.GC]::Collect()
[System.GC]::WaitForPendingFinalizers()
return $result
}
$folder = Get-FolderName
if ($folder) { Write-Host "You selected the directory: $folder" }
else { "You did not select a directory." }
The second one uses a bit of C# code for the 'Topmost' feature and System.Windows.Forms
function Get-FolderName {
[CmdletBinding()]
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, ValueFromPipeline=$true, ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true, Position=0)]
[string]$Message = "Please select a directory.",
[System.Environment+SpecialFolder]$InitialDirectory = [System.Environment+SpecialFolder]::MyDocuments,
[switch]$ShowNewFolderButton
)
# To ensure the dialog window shows in the foreground, you need to get a Window Handle from the owner process.
# This handle must implement System.Windows.Forms.IWin32Window
# Create a wrapper class that implements IWin32Window.
# The IWin32Window interface contains only a single property that must be implemented to expose the underlying handle.
$code = #"
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
public class Win32Window : IWin32Window
{
public Win32Window(IntPtr handle)
{
Handle = handle;
}
public IntPtr Handle { get; private set; }
}
"#
if (-not ([System.Management.Automation.PSTypeName]'Win32Window').Type) {
Add-Type -TypeDefinition $code -ReferencedAssemblies System.Windows.Forms.dll -Language CSharp
}
# Get the window handle from the current process
# $owner = New-Object Win32Window -ArgumentList ([System.Diagnostics.Process]::GetCurrentProcess().MainWindowHandle)
# Or write like this:
$owner = [Win32Window]::new([System.Diagnostics.Process]::GetCurrentProcess().MainWindowHandle)
# Or use the the window handle from the desktop
# $owner = New-Object Win32Window -ArgumentList (Get-Process -Name explorer).MainWindowHandle
# Or write like this:
# $owner = [Win32Window]::new((Get-Process -Name explorer).MainWindowHandle)
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
$dialog = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog
$dialog.Description = $Message
$dialog.RootFolder = $InitialDirectory
# $dialog.SelectedPath = '' # a folder within the RootFolder to pre-select
$dialog.ShowNewFolderButton = if ($ShowNewFolderButton) { $true } else { $false }
$result = $null
if ($dialog.ShowDialog($owner).ToString() -eq 'OK') {
$result = $dialog.SelectedPath
}
# clear the FolderBrowserDialog from memory
$dialog.Dispose()
return $result
}
$folder = Get-FolderName -InitialDirectory MyPictures
if ($folder) { Write-Host "You selected the directory: $folder" }
else { "You did not select a directory." }
Hope that helps
p.s. See Environment.SpecialFolder Enum for the [System.Environment+SpecialFolder] enumeration values