PowerShell GUI observer several socket-connections - sockets

Question

I have found lots of examples that are all very long - but I think it can be done in a lot shorter way.
I nee a GUI that displays and enables several options of the socket connections I need to adimn.
In the beginning I think I have:
# Load external assemblies
[void][Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms")
[void][Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Drawing")
$OnLoadForm_StateCorrection = {
$form1.WindowState = $InitialFormWindowState
}
$myGUI = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
$myGUI.Text = "Socket-Traffic"
$myGUI.Name = "myGUI"
$myGUI.DataBindings.DefaultDataSourceUpdateMode = 0
$myGUI.ForeColor = [System.Drawing.Color]::FromArgb(255,0,0,255)
$System_Drawing_Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size
$System_Drawing_Size.Width = 332
$System_Drawing_Size.Height = 264
$myGUI.ClientSize = $System_Drawing_Size
Now I have the list of Hashes containing all relevant information of the variables and the connections. The groupe just has to be able to access their hash:
$Sockets = $HASH1,$HASH2,$HASH3,$HASH4 # all hasches have a [string] ID: $HASH1.ID = $port
$n = 0 # do I need that?
foreach ($h in $Sockets) {
makeTab $myGUI $h $n
$n++
}
the function that I have in mind should start like that:
function makeTab {
param (
[parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[PSObject] $gui,
[parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[PSObject] $hashTable, # with all info to connect and vars.
[parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[int] $noTab
)
... ??
}
Each Socket-Tab has to have these internal groupes:
all function calls behind a buttonclick like:
$x_OnClick = { Write-host "Button clicked, do..." }
1) Send-a-Line Groupe
a) Line to enter test meant to sent.
b) Button to send # no 'cancle'
2) Login-Groupe:
a) status: Login=Green.ico, Connected=Orange.ico, nothing=red.ico
b) Button: Login (connect & login)
c) Button: Logout (Logout & disconnect)
3) Logging-Groupe:
a) last 2 Lines been sent
b) last 2 line received
4) Status Groupe
a) text lines with var. info. about the connection
b) text lines with var. info. about the connection
...
Global - Finally
a) Button to Exit the script with logout & disconnect all socket connections...
May s.o. can draft an example? After that I can determine the size and the place of the various and the buttons within a group.
Thank you very much in advance!
Gooly

Answer 1

If you are able to use PowerSHell 3.0 or higher, you can use WPF, where forms are just XML-like text. You can create an XML form in visual designer, like Visual Studio Express.
Like this: TreeView Example