Powershell how to enter multiple lines on command line

Question

Goal:

I am attempting to a find a solution that would allow me to enter a Base64 encoded string that can be multiple lines. The goal is to decode the string and get the output returned in the powershell console. Originally, I called a WinForms dialogue, however, this is not possible with implicit remoting.

This is what I have so far:

function Get-Base64 {
  Write-Host 'Decode:' -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
  $data = Read-Host
  $decode = [Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetString([Convert]::FromBase64String("$data"))
  $decode.ToString()
      }

I get the following error message when entering multiple lines:

PS > Get-Base64
Decode)ZXZhbChmdW5jdGlvbihwLGEsYyxrLGUsZCl7ZT1mdW5jdGlvbihjKXtyZXR1cm4oYzxhPycnOmUo
eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return(c<a?'':e(
PS > cGFyc2VJbnQoYy9hKSkpKygoYz1jJWEpPjM1P1N0cmluZy5mcm9tQ2hhckNvZGUoYysyOSk6Yy50
cGFyc2VJbnQoYy9hKSkpKygoYz1jJWEpPjM1P1N0cmluZy5mcm9tQ2hhckNvZGUoYysyOSk6Yy50 : The term 'cGFyc2VJbnQoYy9hKSkpKygoYz1jJWEpPjM1P1N0cmluZy5mcm9tQ2hhckNvZGUoYysyOSk6Yy50' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file,
or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ cGFyc2VJbnQoYy9hKSkpKygoYz1jJWEpPjM1P1N0cmluZy5mcm9tQ2hhckNvZGUoYysyO ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (cGFyc2VJbnQoYy9...GUoYysyOSk6Yy50:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

You can see that it decoded the first part then on the next line, read it as a cmdlet.

Question:

How can I avoid formatting collisions to decode multiple lines?

briantist · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-17 17:04:25Z

3

A base64 encoded string can't be on multiple lines; those would be separate, independent base64 encoded strings. Newlines in the original content would be encoded, not preserved.

If you're intending to read multiple independent base64 encoded strings, then you can't do it with a single call to Read-Host. It only reads one line.

You'll have to loop and keep taking lines until you get some "signal" input to stop (like a blank input):

do {
    Write-Host 'Decode:' -ForegroundColor Yellow -NoNewline
    $data = Read-Host
    [Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetString([Convert]::FromBase64String($data))
} while ($data)

answered Jan 17, 2017 at 17:04

briantist

48.3k6 gold badges94 silver badges139 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Powershell how to enter multiple lines on command line

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related