PowerShell / PowerShell/PSScriptAnalyzer

Write-Host should be closed within the scope it was created in, unless it is a Async command type

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Issue - New Rule
Dominant language
C#
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Summary of the new feature

Some times people don't properly close their Write-progress calls with a -Completed which can cause unexpected output, or "leftover" progress bars from commands that completed, but never closed their progress bars

Proposed technical implementation details (optional)

Write-Progress automatically stops showing open progress bars when execution is complete, but this means that if you are making an interface that does not properly close their Write-Progress progress bars with a Write-Progress -Activity $ActivityName -Completed then it stays open while other code is running, until execution stops.

It seems like in vanilla shell console, powershell can recognize that it is "done" (I'm guessing.... maybe something like the scope that created the Write-Progress is stopped? )

But if you do this in other environments, like ISE, then the Progress bars don't go away unless properly closed with a -Completed

Additionally there is the case that people who are running with something like -PercentComplete 100 but never closing.

A recommendation to close Write-Progress'es with a -Completed would effectively stop this problem

Possibly make sure each write-progress -Activity has a matching one with -Completed ? Not sure if there is a way to detect if it's closed in the same scope or if that might cause more problems

A potential problem for that would be things like People start it in the begin { } block write over time in the progress { } block, but not closing in the end { } block?

What is the latest version of PSScriptAnalyzer at the point of writing
As far as I can tell, it does nothing for this currently

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by locating the existing analyzer rules and tests for PowerShell commands; the issue names Write-Progress and matching -Completed calls but no files or entry points. Clarify how scope boundaries and begin/process/end blocks should behave, then define tests covering ordinary and async command types before implementation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp, powershell
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
20/100

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