Powershell Line Count Utility Tip

Introduction

Ever tried to get a quick LOC (lines of code) count on your project, but Visual Studio only tallies them for managed solutions? And you are grinding away in C++, or another language that isn't supported? Well, here you go, assuming Powershell access!

Background

There is no background to this tip, except I found it on technet: link. I'm only putting it on CodeProject so I can find it here, which is typically quicker than digging through Google again. (Yes, I often search my own articles! And saved a lot of time as a result!)

Using the Code

First, in Explorer, browse to the subdirectory where your code resides. Then type 'powershell' in the Explorer bar, which will open a copy of Powershell there. Then type:

(dir -include *.cpp, *.h -recurse | select-string "^").Count

To exclude blank lines:

(dir -include *.cpp, *.h -recurse | select-string "^(\s*)$" -notMatch).Count

Or, to also exclude '//' comments:

(dir -include *.cpp, *.h -recurse | select-string "^(\s*)//" -notMatch | 
 select-string "^(\s*)$" -notMatch).Count

Change the '*.cpp' and '.h' to whatever file extensions you are interested in. Remove '*.cpp' if you are only interested in headers.

Points of Interest

While typing this up, I found that the original solution counted every character, and my project really didn't have 1.5 million LOC! The corrected attribution link is this one. There is even a version in the comments that strips '/* ... */' multi-liners.

History

Initial submission: Ground my teeth in frustration upon finding that solution wasn't the solution! Googled and prevailed! (Google-fu search phrase: "powershell count lines code".)

One edit followed, to get the strikethrough working correctly, thanks to a pointer by Sean.