Wrapping an existing command Send-MailMessage using splatting

Here is a simple way to add parameters to an existing command when you do not need nor want to overwrite the function name:

• Create a new function
• Add the new parameter(s) at the beginning of the parameter list
• use “ValueFromRemainingArguments” to collect the parameters you want to send to the original cmdlet; you can name the parameter as you want
• When calling the original cmdlet, use the splatting operator “@” with the parameter name you put last in the parameter list.

Here the example wraps the Send-MailMessage cmdlet in case the SMTP Server is not available, etc in a try/catch blog and whatever the result logs all parameters and the current timestamp into a CliXml file for future handling or retry.

<pre class="lang:ps decode:true" title="Send-MailMessage wrapper and logger">Function Test-SendMailMessage
{
  [CmdletBinding()]
    Param
    (
        [parameter(mandatory=$true, position=0)][string]$LogFile,
        [parameter(mandatory=$false, position=1, ValueFromRemainingArguments=$true)]$MyArgs
    )
 

 try
 {
	Write-Verbose "Trying to send a message"
	Send-MailMessage @myargs
 }
 catch
 {
	Write-Verbose "Unable to send message"
  }
  Write-Verbose "Storing output in $LogFile"
 Export-CliXml  -Path $LogFile -InputObject $myArgs,(Get-Date)
}