PlatyPS - A tool for PowerShell MAML

PlatyPS is tool that makes the creation and maintenance of MAML easier. You don’t have to create the content in the MAML XML format. Using .NET reflectino, PlatyPS documents the syntax of parameter sets and the individual parameters for each cmdlet in your module. PlatyPS creates structured Markdown files that contain the syntax information. It can’t create descriptions or provide examples.

The Markdown created by PlatyPS contains placeholders for you to fill in descriptions and examples. After adding the required information, PlatyPS compiles the Markdown files into MAML files. PowerShell’s help system also allows for plain-text conceptual help files (about topics). PlatyPS has a cmdlet to create a structured Markdown template for a new about file, but these about_*.help.txt files must be maintained manually.

You can include the MAML and text help files with your module. You can also use PlatyPS to compile the help files into an archive package that can be hosted for updateable help.

For more information, see PlatyPS overview.

Also, the Markdown content can converted to HTML and hosted on a web server. There are many static site generators that can be used to create a website from the Markdown files. We will show you how to use Hugo.

PlatyPS history

PlatyPS is an open-source tool that started as a hackathon project to make the creation and maintenance of MAML easier.