Overview
In the System Namespace, there are structures which allow us to declare variables to be of a certain data type. The list below shows some commonly used ones.
| Datatype | Comments |
|---|---|
| Boolean | Represents a Boolean value. |
| Byte | Represents an 8-bit unsigned integer. |
| Char | Represents a character as a UTF-16 code unit. |
| Decimal | Represents a decimal number. |
| Double | Represents a double-precision floating-point number. |
| Int16 | Represents a 16-bit signed integer. |
| Int32 | Represents a 32-bit signed integer. |
| Int64 | Represents a 64-bit signed integer. |
| SByte | Represents an 8-bit signed integer. |
| Single | Represents a single-precision floating-point number. |
| UInt16 | Represents a 16-bit unsigned integer. |
| UInt32 | Represents a 32-bit unsigned integer. |
| UInt64 | Represents a 64-bit unsigned integer. |
| String | Represents text as a series of Unicode characters. |
This means we can explicitly declare variables to be of a particular data type. For example:
[Decimal]$fred
declares variable fred to be a Decimal.
equally, fred could be an Int16:
[Int16]$fred
The numeric data types have static properties which allow us to assign the maximum or minimum value allowed to the variable.
If we execute the command:
$fred | Get-Member -Static -MemberType property;
this shows us that we have a MinValue and a MaxValue:
Name MemberType Definition
---- ---------- ----------
MaxValue Property static decimal MaxValue {get;}
MinusOne Property static decimal MinusOne {get;}
MinValue Property static decimal MinValue {get;}
One Property static decimal One {get;}
Zero Property static decimal Zero {get;}
To make use of the minimum and maximum values, execute the command:
[Decimal]$fred=[System.Decimal]::MinValue
or
[Decimal]$fred=[System.Decimal]::MaxValue
If we’re using other data types, then replace Decimal for the data type in question.
Reference
System Namespace. The System namespace contains fundamental classes and base classes that define commonly-used value and reference data types, events and event handlers, interfaces, attributes, and processing exceptions.
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