PowerShell / PowerShell/PowerShell

Class help provider supports only one help entry

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Description

Prerequisites
Steps to reproduce

The PSClassHelpProvider supports only one entry in any help file describing content because each help entry read by the provider is cached under the same key, the key being the path to the help file. The name of the class is discarded, the value in the cache is therefore the last help item read from a help file.

If a module exists as follows:

New-Item module -ItemType Directory -Force

Set-Content -Path module\module.psm1 -Value @'
<#
    .EXTERNALHELP module-help.xml
#>

class first {
    [string]
    $property
}

class second {
    [void] Method() { }
}
'@

And that module has a help file containing entries for classes:

Set-Content module\module-help.xml -Value @'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
<helpItems schema="maml" xmlns="http://msh">
  <command:class xmlns:maml="http://schemas.microsoft.com/maml/2004/10" xmlns:command="http://schemas.microsoft.com/maml/dev/command/2004/10" xmlns:dev="http://schema.microsoft.com/maml/dev/2004/10" xmlns:MSHelp="http//msdn.microsoft.com/mshelp">
    <command:title>first</command:title>
    <command:introduction>
        <maml:para>first description.</maml:para>
    </command:introduction>
    <command:members>
      <command:member type="field">
        <command:introduction>
          <maml:para>property description.</maml:para>
        </command:introduction>
        <command:fieldData>
          <command:name>property</command:name>
          <dev:type>
            <maml:name>string</maml:name>
          </dev:type>
        </command:fieldData>
      </command:member>
    </command:members>
  </command:class>
  <command:class xmlns:maml="http://schemas.microsoft.com/maml/2004/10" xmlns:command="http://schemas.microsoft.com/maml/dev/command/2004/10" xmlns:dev="http://schema.microsoft.com/maml/dev/2004/10" xmlns:MSHelp="http//msdn.microsoft.com/mshelp">
    <command:title>second</command:title>
    <command:introduction>
        <maml:para>second description.</maml:para>
    </command:introduction>
    <command:members>
      <command:member type="method">
        <command:title>Method</command:title>
        <command:introduction>
          <maml:para>method description.</maml:para>
        </command:introduction>
        <command:Parameters />
        <command:returnValue>
          <dev:type>
            <maml:name>void</maml:name>
          </dev:type>
        </command:returnValue>
      </command:member>
    </command:members>
  </command:class>
</helpItems>
'@

Content is made available to the help system as follows:

try {
    $restore = $env:PSModulePath
    $env:PSModulePath = $pwd.Path + [System.IO.Path]::PathSeparator + $env:PSModulePath

    Import-Module .\module\module.psm1

    Get-Help first -Category class
} catch {
    throw
} finally {
    $env:PSModulePath = $restore
}

The Help system should be able to provide help content for each of the named classes.

Expected behavior
PS> Get-Help first -Category class

NAME
    first

SYNOPSIS
    first description.


RELATED LINKS

REMARKS
    To see the examples, type: "Get-Help second -Examples"
    For more information, type: "Get-Help second -Detailed"
    For technical information, type: "Get-Help second -Full"
Actual behavior
PS> Get-Help first -Category class

NAME
    second

SYNOPSIS
    second description.

RELATED LINKS

REMARKS
    To see the examples, type: "Get-Help second -Examples"
    For more information, type: "Get-Help second -Detailed"
    For technical information, type: "Get-Help second -Full"
Error details

No response

Environment data
Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.3.6
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.3.6
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.19045
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0
Visuals

No response

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 with the PSClassHelpProvider and reproduce the issue using the supplied module, module-help.xml, and Get-Help first -Category class commands. Trace how entries are cached by help-file path; done means Get-Help returns the matching description and members for each named class in the same help file.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
powershell
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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