Listing available constructors for a class

In PowerShell 5.0+ you can list available constructors by calling the static new-method without parentheses.

PS> [DateTime]::new

OverloadDefinitions
-------------------
datetime new(long ticks)
datetime new(long ticks, System.DateTimeKind kind)
datetime new(int year, int month, int day)
datetime new(int year, int month, int day, System.Globalization.Calendar calendar)
datetime new(int year, int month, int day, int hour, int minute, int second)
datetime new(int year, int month, int day, int hour, int minute, int second, System.DateTimeKind kind)
datetime new(int year, int month, int day, int hour, int minute, int second, System.Globalization.Calendar calendar)
datetime new(int year, int month, int day, int hour, int minute, int second, int millisecond)
datetime new(int year, int month, int day, int hour, int minute, int second, int millisecond, System.DateTimeKind kind)
datetime new(int year, int month, int day, int hour, int minute, int second, int millisecond,
System.Globalization.Calendar calendar)
datetime new(int year, int month, int day, int hour, int minute, int second, int millisecond,
System.Globalization.Calendar calendar, System.DateTimeKind kind)

This is the same technique that you can use to list overload definitions for any method

> 'abc'.CompareTo

OverloadDefinitions
-------------------
int CompareTo(System.Object value)
int CompareTo(string strB)
int IComparable.CompareTo(System.Object obj)
int IComparable[string].CompareTo(string other)

For earlier versions you can create your own function to list available constructors:

function Get-Constructor {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param(
        [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
        [type]$type
    )

    Process {
        $type.GetConstructors() | 
        Format-Table -Wrap @{
            n="$($type.Name) Constructors"
            e={ ($_.GetParameters() | % { $_.ToString() }) -Join ", " }
        }
    }
}

Usage:

Get-Constructor System.DateTime    
#Or [datetime] | Get-Constructor

DateTime Constructors
---------------------
Int64 ticks
Int64 ticks, System.DateTimeKind kind
Int32 year, Int32 month, Int32 day
Int32 year, Int32 month, Int32 day, System.Globalization.Calendar calendar
Int32 year, Int32 month, Int32 day, Int32 hour, Int32 minute, Int32 second
Int32 year, Int32 month, Int32 day, Int32 hour, Int32 minute, Int32 second, System.DateTimeKind kind
Int32 year, Int32 month, Int32 day, Int32 hour, Int32 minute, Int32 second, System.Globalization.Calendar calendar
Int32 year, Int32 month, Int32 day, Int32 hour, Int32 minute, Int32 second, Int32 millisecond
Int32 year, Int32 month, Int32 day, Int32 hour, Int32 minute, Int32 second, Int32 millisecond, System.DateTimeKind kind
Int32 year, Int32 month, Int32 day, Int32 hour, Int32 minute, Int32 second, Int32 millisecond, System.Globalization.Cal
endar calendar
Int32 year, Int32 month, Int32 day, Int32 hour, Int32 minute, Int32 second, Int32 millisecond, System.Globalization.Cal
endar calendar, System.DateTimeKind kind

Found a mistake? Have a question or improvement idea? Let me know.

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