What is a wrapper ?

What is a wrapper ?

In section 3.3. Asking for help of “Learn PowerShell in 30 Days of Lunches” it states:

“Man and Help aren’t native cmdlets at all; they’re functions, which are wrappers around the core Get-Help cmdlet.”

I’ve seen the terminology “wrapper” before. I’ve searched online for a definition, but as of yet have never found one that makes any sense (at least to me). I’m not even sure if the usage of the term wrapper here is the same as the programmatic definition of wrapper - and it seems there are multiple definitions of wrapper ?

So a wrapper is a function. It made creating PowerShell eaiser. It makes working with PowerShell easier. As far as I can tell both are passing user input to Get-Help ?

There are wrappers (as you note, functions they focus normally on a specific thing) and then there are aliases (shorthand stuff).

Wrapper Functions

By contrast, a wrapper function typically focuses on a single cmdlet, but it can be customized to meet a specific need. For example, you might want to adjust parameters, or you might want to further process the results. Many of the tools you will build will most likely rely on wrapper functions.

Any function, can be assigned an alias.

When digging as aliases, PoSH give you this list natively. Aliases are just short name to the normal cmdlet. They are good for quickly do interactive sessions. Though they are not prudent for full blown scripts. Never assume that those you share scripts with, will ever know anything about aliases. If it is just you. Alias away. If you share, use the full cmdlet names.

    # Get parameters, examples, full and Online help for a cmdlet or function

    (Get-Command -Name Get-Content).Parameters
    Get-help -Name Get-Content -Examples
    Get-help -Name Get-Content -Full
    Get-help -Name Get-Content -Online

    Get-Help about_*
    Get-Help about_Functions

    # Find all cmdlets / functions with a target parameter
    Get-Help * -Parameter Append

    # All Help topics locations
    explorer "$pshome\$($Host.CurrentCulture.Name)"

    Get-Alias | Out-GridView -PassThru

    Get-Alias -Definition '*Help*' | Format-Table -AutoSize
    CommandType Name        Version Source
    ----------- ----        ------- ------
    Alias       man -> help   

    Get-Alias -Definition 'Get-WmiObject' | Format-Table -AutoSize
    CommandType Name                  Version Source
    ----------- ----                  ------- ------
    Alias       gwmi -> Get-WmiObject               


    Get-Alias -Definition 'Get-ChildItem' | Format-Table -AutoSize
    CommandType Name                 Version Source
    ----------- ----                 ------- ------
    Alias       dir -> Get-ChildItem               
    Alias       gci -> Get-ChildItem               
    Alias       ls -> Get-ChildItem   

    Get-Command -Type Function

    Get-Command -Type Cmdlet

There’s a reasonable generic definition of wrapper functions at Wrapper function - Wikipedia

Think of them as a way to access functionality in an easier manner. As a simple example I have a function in my PowerShell profile

function doc {
param (
 [string]$subject
)
Get-Help -Name $subject -ShowWindow
}

So
doc get-Command

is equivalent to
Get-Help -Name Get-Command -ShowWindow

It saves me some time and some typing

doc is a wrapper function for get-help