Get-Help for .trim / -trim, .replace / -replace, .split / -split and other string operators

Question

PowerShell has a pretty good built-in help system that I use a lot and I'm able to see all help options with Get-Help * and query Cmdlets or can look up Topics with Get-Help about_* and then say Get-Help about_compar* to open the Comparison Operators topic which is all very good.

However, I was trying to find how to get help on the various string operators, like .replace, .compare, .split, .substring. Does anyone know how to pull these topics up on the PowerShell console (possibly, they might be hidden inside some of the about_* topics, but it's not obvious or clear to me where to look)?

Also, the string operators have -replace, -compare, -split variants etc and while almost the same as the .replace etc, one version uses regular expressions and the other does not. Does anyone know if there are help topics (again, available from the console!) that clarifies all of this? The PowerShell help system will feel quite lacking if it is missing clarifications on all of this in its built-in help system as these are a very heavily used part of the language (so hopefully this is all tucked away in some about_* topics that I've not found yet).

Answer 1

• As has been noted, methods of .NET types such as System.String.Split() are not part of PowerShell, but of the .NET framework that PowerShell is built on, so you'll have to consult the official documentation at https://learn.microsoft.com.

• That said, given the close integration between PowerShell and .NET, it would be nice to be able to easily consult this documentation from within PowerShell - see GitHub issue #11338.

• However, operators such as -split are PowerShell language features, and both discovering their documentation altogether and getting focused, operator-specific information is currently cumbersome.

  • Documentation for language features such as operators is contained in about_* help topics, which can be targeted with Get-Help -Category HelpFile, and you can combine that with passing the (quoted) name of the operator in order to search the contents of these topics:

    • For example, Get-Help -Category HelpFile -Name '-replace' at least narrows the search down, but still includes all help topics that mention -replace; the result will comprise the about_Operators help topic, which is the overview page that links to more specific pages focused on specific categories of operators, such as arithmetic operators, comparison operators, ..., but also describes some general-purpose operators directly.

• There is currently no direct way to get focused information for a given operator, but there should be: see GitHub issue #11339.

---

Below are two helper functions that try to overcome the current limitations (as of v7.3.0), Show-OperatorHelp and Show-TypeHelp.

Note:

• Both functions (of necessity) don't show the documentation in the console (terminal), but open the online documentation in your default web browser.

  • In Show-TypeHelp, support is limited to those (public) types that ship with .NET and therefore have documentation pages at https://learn.microsoft.com.

  • Show-OperatorHelp opens the specific section describing just the operator of interest whenever possible; some operators, such as the arithmetic operators +, -, don't have individual sections, but the overall topic is usually short enough in these cases to make it easy to find the parts of interest.

• They come with comment-based help, so you can use -? and Get-Help to learn more about them.

• You can place them in your $PROFILE file, for instance, or - given their length - you may want to create external scripts (*.ps1) based on them that you place in a directory listed in $env:Path. To that end, simply strip the function <name> { line and the final } and save them to a *.ps1 file.

Example uses:

Show-OperatorHelp:

# Opens the home (overview) page for all PowerShell operators
Show-OperatorHelp

# Lists all operators in the console, 
# along with their friendly names and categories.
Show-OperatorHelp -List

# Opens the help topic (section) for the -replace operator.
# Equivalent of 
    Show-OperatorHelp -Name '-replace'
# because you omit the initial '-'; if you do specify it, quote the entire argument.
Show-OperatorHelp replace

# Opens the help topic (section) for @(...), the array-subexpression operator.
# Note the need for quoting.
Show-OperatorHelp '@()'

Show-TypeHelp:

# Opens the documentation for the System.String.Split() method.
#  You can specify a type name ('string' in this example) as follows:
#    * Use a full type name, with the initial 'System.' component optionally omitted (e.g. 'Text.Encoding' for 'System.Text.Encoding'
#    * Use a type accelerator such as 'xml' for 'System.Xml.XmlDocument'
# Tab-completion: You can type (part of) a the name of a type
# (last component of the full name) and cycle through loaded types by that name.
# E.g., typing `arrayli` tab-completes to 'System.Collections.ArrayList'.
# Alternatively, *pipe* an instance of a string to the function (see next example).
Show-TypeHelp string split # Short for: Show-TypeHelp -Type string -Member split

# Opens the documentation for the [Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.MatchInfo]
# type, instances of which Select-String outputs.
'foo' | Select-String o | Show-TypeHelp

I suggest getting the source code from the following MIT-licensed Gists instead, as only they will be maintained; assuming you have looked at the code (which I can personally assure you is safe, but you should always check), you can install them directly:

irm https://gist.github.com/mklement0/146f3202a810a74cb54a2d353ee4003f/raw/Show-OperatorHelp.ps1 | iex

irm https://gist.github.com/mklement0/50a1b101cd53978cd147b4b138fe6ef4/raw/Show-TypeHelp.ps1 | iex

---

Note: Ignore the broken syntax highlighting below.

Show-OperatorHelp source code:

function Show-OperatorHelp {
  <#
.SYNOPSIS
Shows documentation for PowerShell's operators.

.DESCRIPTION
Navigates to operator-specific or -related online help topics in your default 
web browser.

Invoke argument-less to see the operators overview help topic.
-Precedence shows the topic about operator precedence.
-QuotingRules shows the topic about string literals and quoting.
-Name <name> targets a specific operator.

.PARAMETER Name
The name of an operator.

Note that most names must be passed *in quotes* for syntactic reasons;
e.g., '-match' instead of -match
However, you may omit the initial '-', in which case you needn't quote.

Use -List to see all names.

.PARAMETER Precedence
Opens the help topic that describes operator precedence.

.PARAMETER List
Parameter description

.PARAMETER QuotingRules
Opens the help topic that describes the quoting rules and syntax for
string literals.

.PARAMETER CopyUrl
Instead of opening the topic page in a browser, copies the page's URL to
the clipboard.

.PARAMETER Version
Specify a specific PowerShell version number (e.g., 7 or 5.1) for which to
display the requested help topic.
By default, the executing engine's version number is used.

.EXAMPLE
Show-OperatorHelp

Opens the home (overview) page for all PowerShell operators.

.EXAMPLE
Show-OperatorHelp replace

Opens the help topic (section) for the -replace operator.
Equivalent of: Show-OperatorHelp -Name '-replace'

.EXAMPLE
Show-OperatorHelp -List

Lists all operators, along with their friendly names and categories.

.EXAMPLE
Show-OperatorHelp -Precedence

Shows the help topic about operator precedence.
#>

  [CmdletBinding(DefaultParameterSetName = 'HomePage', SupportsShouldProcess, PositionalBinding = $false)]
  param (
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Name', Mandatory, Position = 0)]
    [string] $Name
    ,
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Precedence')]
    [switch] $Precedence
    ,
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'List')]
    [Alias('ListAvailable')]
    [switch] $List
    ,
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'QuotingRules')]
    [Alias('StringLiterals')]
    [switch] $QuotingRules
    ,
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Name')]
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Precedence')]
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'QuotingRules')]
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'HomePage')]
    [Alias('cp')]
    [switch] $CopyUrl
    ,
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Name')]
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Precedence')]
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'QuotingRules')]
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'HomePage')]
    [string] $Version # PowerShell version
  )

  # Default to the executing PowerShell engine's version.
  # Note: If no "?view=powershell-<ver>" query string is present,
  #       the currently highest stable version overall is targeted.
  if ($Version) {
    $verObj = $Version -as [version]
    if (-not $verObj) { $verObj = "$Version.0" -as [version] }
    if (-not $verObj) { Throw "Unrecognized PowerShell version number: $Version" }
  }
  else {
    $verObj = $PSVersionTable.PSVersion
  }
  $Version = ('{0}.{1}' -f $verObj.Major, $verObj.Minor) -replace '\.0$'

  $opTable = @{
    # about_Arithmetic_Operators
    '-'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-'; FriendlyName = 'subtraction / sign inversion'; Topic = 'about_Arithmetic_Operators'; Category = 'Arithmetic' } 
    '*'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '*'; FriendlyName = 'multiplication / string replication'; Topic = 'about_Arithmetic_Operators'; Category = 'Arithmetic' } 
    '/'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '/'; FriendlyName = 'division'; Topic = 'about_Arithmetic_Operators'; Category = 'Arithmetic' } 
    '%'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '%'; FriendlyName = 'modulus'; Topic = 'about_Arithmetic_Operators'; Category = 'Arithmetic' } 
    '+'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '+'; FriendlyName = 'addition / string conatenation'; Topic = 'about_Arithmetic_Operators'; Category = 'Arithmetic' } 
    '-band'        = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-band'; FriendlyName = 'bitwise AND'; Topic = 'about_Arithmetic_Operators'; Category = 'Bitwise' } 
    '-bor'         = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-bor'; FriendlyName = 'bitwise OR'; Topic = 'about_Arithmetic_Operators'; Category = 'Bitwise' } 
    '-bxor'        = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-bxor'; FriendlyName = 'bitwise XOR'; Topic = 'about_Arithmetic_Operators'; Category = 'Bitwise' } 
    '-bNot'        = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-bNot'; FriendlyName = 'bitwise complement'; Topic = 'about_Arithmetic_Operators'; Category = 'Bitwise' } 
    # about_Assignment_Operators
    '='            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '='; FriendlyName = 'assignment'; Topic = 'about_Assignment_Operators'; Category = 'Assignment' } 
    '+='           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '+='; FriendlyName = 'compound assignment'; Topic = 'about_Assignment_Operators'; Category = 'Assignment' } 
    '-='           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-='; FriendlyName = 'compound assignment'; Topic = 'about_Assignment_Operators'; Category = 'Assignment' } 
    '*='           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '*='; FriendlyName = 'compound assignment'; Topic = 'about_Assignment_Operators'; Category = 'Assignment' } 
    '/='           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '/='; FriendlyName = 'compound assignment'; Topic = 'about_Assignment_Operators'; Category = 'Assignment' } 
    '%='           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '%='; FriendlyName = 'compound assignment'; Topic = 'about_Assignment_Operators'; Category = 'Assignment' } 
    '++'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '++'; FriendlyName = 'increment'; Topic = 'about_Assignment_Operators'; Category = 'Assignment' } 
    '--'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '--'; FriendlyName = 'decrement'; Topic = 'about_Assignment_Operators'; Category = 'Assignment' } 
    # about_Comparison_Operators
    '-eq'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-eq'; FriendlyName = 'equality'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-eq'; Category = 'Equality' } 
    '-ne'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-ne'; FriendlyName = 'inequality'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-ne'; Category = 'Equality' } 
    '-gt'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-gt'; FriendlyName = 'greater-than'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-gt'; Category = 'Equality' } 
    '-ge'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-ge'; FriendlyName = 'greater-than-or-equal'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-gt'; Category = 'Equality' } 
    '-lt'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-lt'; FriendlyName = 'less-than'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-lt'; Category = 'Equality' } 
    '-le'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-le'; FriendlyName = 'less-than-or-equal'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-le'; Category = 'Equality' } 
    '-like'        = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-like'; FriendlyName = 'wildcard matching'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-like'; Category = 'Matching' } 
    '-notlike'     = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-notlike'; FriendlyName = 'negated wildcard matching'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-notlike'; Category = 'Matching' } 
    '-match'       = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-match'; FriendlyName = 'regular-expression matching'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-match'; Category = 'Matching' } 
    '-notmatch'    = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-notmatch'; FriendlyName = 'negated regular-expression matching'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-notmatch'; Category = 'Matching' } 
    '-replace'     = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-replace'; FriendlyName = 'regular-expression-based string replacement'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = 'replacement-operator'; Category = 'String' } 
    '-in'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-in'; FriendlyName = 'LHS contained in RHS'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-in'; Category = 'Containment' } 
    '-notIn'       = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-notIn'; FriendlyName = 'LHS not contained in collection'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-notin'; Category = 'Containment' } 
    '-contains'    = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-contains'; FriendlyName = 'collection contains RHS'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-contains'; Category = 'Containment' } 
    '-notContains' = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-notContains'; FriendlyName = 'collection doesn''t contain RHS'; Topic = 'about_Comparison_Operators'; Anchor = '-notcontains'; Category = 'Containment' } 
    # about_Join
    '-join'        = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-join'; FriendlyName = 'string joining'; Topic = 'about_Join'; Category = 'String' } 
    # about_Split
    '-split'       = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-split'; FriendlyName = 'string splitting'; Topic = 'about_Split'; Category = 'String' } 
    # about_Logical_Operators
    '-not'         = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-not'; FriendlyName = 'logical NOT'; Topic = 'about_Logical_Operators'; Category = 'Logical' } 
    '!'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '!'; FriendlyName = 'logical NOT'; Topic = 'about_Logical_Operators'; Category = 'Logical' } 
    '-and'         = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-and'; FriendlyName = 'logical AND'; Topic = 'about_Logical_Operators'; Category = 'Logical' } 
    '-or'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-or'; FriendlyName = 'logical OR'; Topic = 'about_Logical_Operators'; Category = 'Logical' } 
    '-xor'         = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-xor'; FriendlyName = 'logical XOR'; Topic = 'about_Logical_Operators'; Category = 'Logical' } 
    # about_Operators
    '$()'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '$()'; FriendlyName = 'subexpression'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'subexpression-operator--'; Category = 'Evaluation' } 
    '@()'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '@()'; FriendlyName = 'array-subexpression'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'array-subexpression-operator--'; Category = 'Evaluation' } 
    '()'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '()'; FriendlyName = 'grouping'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'grouping-operator--'; Category = 'Evaluation' } 
    '. '           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '.'; FriendlyName = '(dot-)source'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'dot-sourcing-operator-'; Category = 'Execution' }   # Sadly, we have to use '. ' to distinguish it from the member-access operator
    '&'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '&'; FriendlyName = 'call (execute)'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'call-operator-'; Category = 'Execution' }
    ' &'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '&'; FriendlyName = 'background'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'background-operator-'; Category = 'Execution' } # Sadly, we have to use ' &' to distinguish it from the call operator
    '&&'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '&&'; FriendlyName = 'pipeline-chain AND'; Topic = 'about_Pipeline_Chain_Operators'; Category = 'Pipeline' }
    '||'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '||'; FriendlyName = 'pipeline-chain OR'; Topic = 'about_Pipeline_Chain_Operators'; Category = 'Pipeline' }
    '|'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '|'; FriendlyName = 'pipeline'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'pipeline-operator-'; Category = 'Pipeline' }
    '.'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '.'; FriendlyName = 'member access'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'member-access-operator-'; Category = 'Object' } 
    '::'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '::'; FriendlyName = 'static member access'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'static-member-operator-'; Category = 'Object' } 
    '[0]'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '[0]'; FriendlyName = 'index'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'index-operator--'; Category = 'Object' } 
    '[int]'        = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '[int]'; FriendlyName = 'cast / type constraint'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'cast-operator--'; Category = 'Type' } 
    ','            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = ','; FriendlyName = 'array constructor'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'comma-operator-'; Category = 'Array' } 
    '..'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '..'; FriendlyName = 'range (numbers/characters) '; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'range-operator-'; Category = 'Array' } 
    '-f'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-f'; FriendlyName = 'format (strings)'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'format-operator--f'; Category = 'String' } 
    '?:'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '?:'; FriendlyName = 'ternary conditional'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = 'ternary-operator--if-true--if-false'; Category = 'Conditional' } 
    '??'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '??'; FriendlyName = 'null-coalescing'; Topic = 'about_Operators'; Anchor = ''; Category = 'Conditional' } # ?? Not yet covered in the v7 topic as of 12 Dec 2019
    # about_Redirection
    '>'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '>'; FriendlyName = 'redirection'; Topic = 'about_Redirection'; Category = 'Stream' }
    '>>'           = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '>>'; FriendlyName = 'appending redirection'; Topic = 'about_Redirection'; Category = 'Stream' }
    # about_Type_Operators
    '-is'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-is'; FriendlyName = 'type(-inheritance) / interface test'; Topic = 'about_Type_Operators'; Category = 'Type' } 
    '-isnot'       = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-isnot'; FriendlyName = 'negated type(-inheritance) / interface test'; Topic = 'about_Type_Operators'; Category = 'Type' } 
    '-as'          = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '-as'; FriendlyName = 'conditional type conversion'; Topic = 'about_Type_Operators'; Category = 'Type' } 
    # --- Not covered by an operator help topic, but could be considered one.
    # about_Splatting
    '@'            = [pscustomobject] @{ Name = '@'; FriendlyName = 'splatting (arguments)'; Topic = 'about_Splatting'; Category = 'Splatting' } 
  }

  # As a courtesy, interpret variations of quotes / quoting styles passed as -Name as if -Quoting had been passed instead.
  $parameterSetNameInEffect = $PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName
  if ($Name -replace '\s' -match '^(?:''''?|""?|@''(''@)?|@"("@)?)$') {
    $parameterSetNameInEffect = 'QuotingRules'  
  }

  $url = ''

  switch ($parameterSetNameInEffect) {

    'Name' {

      $warning = ''

      # See if the name matches an entry as-is.
      $entry = $opTable[$Name]

      # If '.' was passed, warn about member-access / dot-sourcing ambiguity.
      if ($Name -eq '.') {
        $warning = "Defaulting to member-access operator; for the dot-sourcing operator, pass '. '"
      }
      elseif ($Name -eq '&') {
        $warning = "Defaulting to call operator; for the background operator, pass ' &'"
      }
      elseif ($Name.Trim() -eq '@') {
        $warning = "Defaulting to splatting operator; for the array-subexpression operator, pass '@()'; for here-strings, pass '@`"`"@' or -QuotingRules"
      }
      elseif (-not $entry) {
        # Remove any spaces, to support name variations such as '( )', '[ ]'
        $normalizedName = $Name -replace ' '
      }

      if (-not $entry) {
        # If not, try prepending "-", to allow users to specify 'replace' instead of '-replace', for instance.
        $entry = $opTable["-$normalizedName"]
      }
      if (-not $entry) {
        # Variations of redirection operators.
        if ($entry -match '^[\d*]?>>?(&\d?)') {
          $entry = $opTable['>']
        }
      }
      if (-not $entry) {
        # Map case variants to their unqualified form; e.g. '-ireplace' -> '-replace'
        $baseName = $normalizedName -replace '^(?=-?)[ci](?=[a-z])'
        if ($baseName -ne $normalizedName) {
          if ($baseName -notlike '-*') { $baseName = '-' + $baseName }
          $entry = $opTable[$baseName]
        }
      }
      if (-not $entry -and $normalizedName -like '`[*`]') {
        # varations of referring to the index / cast / type-constraint operator
        $bracketName = $normalizedName
        if ($bracketName -eq '[]') {
          $bracketName = '[0]' # default to indexer, but warn
          $warning = "Defaulting to index operator; for the cast / type-constraint operators, pass '[int]'"
        }
        elseif ($bracketName -match '^\[(\d+|[''"].*[''"])\]$') {
          $bracketName = '[0]' # indexer - numeric or string
        }
        else {
          $bracketName = '[int]' # cast
        }
        $entry = $opTable[$bracketName]
      }

      if (-not $entry) {
        Throw "Not a recognized operator: $Name"
      }
      elseif ($warning) {
        Write-Warning $warning
      }

      $url = "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/" + $entry.Topic
      if ($entry.Anchor) {
        $url += '#' + $entry.Anchor
      }
      break
    }

    'Precedence' {
      $url = 'https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_Operator_Precedence'
      break
    }

    'QuotingRules' {
      $url = 'https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_Quoting_Rules'
      break
    }

    'HomePage' {
      $url = 'https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_Operators'
      break
    }

    'List' {
      # List the operators table below.
    }

    Default { Throw "What are you doing here?" }
  }

  if ($url -and $Version) {
    $versionQueryString = '?view=powershell-' + $Version
    if ($url.Contains('#')) {
      $url = $url -replace '(#.+)$', ($versionQueryString + '$1')
    }
    else {
      $url += $versionQueryString
    }
  }

  # -WhatIf support.
  if (-not $PSCmdlet.ShouldProcess((("`n" + $url + "`n"), "List all operators")[$parameterSetNameInEffect -eq 'List'])) { return }

  if ($parameterSetNameInEffect -eq 'List') {

    $opTable.Values | Select-Object Name, FriendlyName, Category | Sort-Object Category, Name

  }
  else {

    if ($CopyUrl) {
      Write-Verbose "Copying URL to clipboard: $url"
      Set-Clipboard $url
    }
    else {
      Write-Verbose "Navigating to: $url"
      Start-Process $url
    }

  }
}

---

Show-TypeHelp source code:

function Show-TypeHelp {
  <#
  .SYNOPSIS
  Shows documentation for built-in .NET types.

  .DESCRIPTION
  Navigates to the specified .NET type's learn.microsoft.com documentation page
  in your default web browser, assuming the type comes with .NET.

  Use -WhatIf to preview the URL that would be opened.

  There are two basic invocation patterns:

  * Provide the full name of a type a type accelerator or a [type] instance
    via the -Type parameter.

     * Tab-completion works with the (prefixes of) a type's simple name (without
      namespace component); e.g., Get-TypeHelp List<tab> cycles through all
      loaded types whose name is or starts with 'List'.

  * Pipe instance(s) of the type of interest.

  .PARAMETER Type
  Can be the name of a type (e.g. "string"), or a type literal (e.g. [string]).
  
  If given a name, the name must be one of the following:
   * The type's full name; e.g., 'System.Xml.XmlDocument'.
   * The full name with the 'System.' prefix omitted; e.g., 'Xml.XmlDocument'
   * The name of a PowerShell type accelerator; e.g., 'xml'

  .PARAMETER Member
  The optional name of a property or method to get specific information on.
  If the target type has no such member, a warning is issued, and you're taken
  to the type's home page.

  .PARAMETER InputObject
  Object(s), typically provided via the pipeline, whose type's documentation
  page should be opened.

  .PARAMETER Platform
  The target .NET platform / standard, which must include a specific major.minor
  version number; e.g., 'dotnetcore-3.1'.
  Currently (v7.0), the latest 'netframework-*' version is targeted by default, i.e.,
  the Windows-only .NET Framework (FullCLR).

  Use tab completion to cycle through the available platforms, but note that
  you must complete the specific version number yourself.

  .EXAMPLE
  Get-TypeHelp xml

  Opens the documentation page for type [xml], i.e., for System.Xml.XmlDocument

  .EXAMPLE
  Get-TypeHelp string split

  Opens the documentation page for the System.String type's Split() method.

  .EXAMPLE
  Get-Item / | Get-TypeHelp

  Opens the documentation page for type System.IO.DirectoryInfo, an instance
  of which is output by the Get-Item command.

  .EXAMPLE
  Get-TypeHelp regex -Platform netcore-3.1

  Opens the documenation page for type System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex
  for the .NET Core 3.1 platform.
  #>

  [CmdletBinding(DefaultParameterSetName = 'ByType', SupportsShouldProcess = $true)]
  [OutputType()] # No output.
  param(
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'ByType', Mandatory, Position = 0)]
    [ArgumentCompleter( {
        param($cmd, $param, $wordToComplete)
        # Remove enclosing / opening quote(s), if present.
        $wordToComplete = $wordToComplete -replace '^[''"]|[''"]$'
        if ($tp = $wordToComplete -as [Type]) {
          # Already a full type name or the name of a type accelerator such as [xml]
          $tp.FullName
        }
        else {
          # Get the full names of all public types (including nested ones), but exclude dynamic assemblies.
          # (Dynamic assemblies can't be expected to have documentation pages anyway; also, not excluding them would break the .GetExportedTypes() call.)
          $allLoadedTypes = [System.AppDomain]::CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies().Where( { -not $_.IsDynamic }).GetExportedTypes().FullName
          # Prefix-name-only-match against all loaded full type names from non-dynamic assemblies at
          # and enclose in embedded '...' if the type name contains a ` char. (generics), then sort.
          $(foreach ($match in $allLoadedTypes -match "[+.]$wordToComplete[^.]*$") {
              ($match, "'$match'")[$match -match '`']
            }) | Sort-Object
        }
      })]
    [Type] $Type
    ,
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'ByType', Position = 1)]
    [string] $Member
    ,
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'ByInstance', ValueFromPipeline, Mandatory)]
    [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
    $InputObject
    ,
    [ArgumentCompleter( {
        'netcore-', 'netframework-', 'xamarinmac-', 'dotnet-plat-ext-', 'netstandard-', 'dotnet-uwp-', 'xamarinandroid-', 'xamarinios-10.8', 'xamarinmac-' -like "$wordToComplete*"
      })]
    [string] $Platform
    ,
    [Alias('cp')]
    [switch] $CopyUrl
  )
  
  begin {
    $types = [System.Collections.Generic.List[Type]]::new()
    $instances = [System.Collections.Generic.List[object]]::new()
  
    if ($Platform -and $Platform -notmatch '^[a-z][a-z-]+-\d+\.\d+$') {
      Throw "The -Platform value must be in the form '<platform-id>-<major>.<minor>'; e.g., 'netcore-3.1'; use tab completion to cycle through the supported platforms and add a version number."
    }
  }
  process {
    switch ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName) {
      'ByType' { $types.Add($Type) }
      'ByInstance' { $instances.Add($InputObject) }
      Default { Throw 'What are you doing here?' }
    }
  }
  end {
  
    # If instances were given, determine their types now.
    if ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName -eq 'ByInstance') {
      $types = $instances.ToArray().ForEach('GetType') | Select-Object -Unique
    }

    $urls = foreach ($tp in $types) {
      # Make sure that the member exists, otherwise a 404 happens.
      if ($Member -and $tp.GetMembers().Name -notcontains $Member) {
        Write-Warning "Ignoring member name '$Member', because type '$tp' has no such member."
        $Member = ''
      }
      # Transform the full type name to the format used in the URLs.
      # '`1' -> '-1'
      # System.Environment+SpecialFolder -> 'System.Environment.SpecialFolder'
      $typeNameForUrl = $tp.FullName -replace '`', '-' -replace '\+', '.'
      "https://learn.microsoft.com/$PSCulture/dotnet/api/$typeNameForUrl" + ('', ".$Member")[$Member -ne ''] + ('', "?view=$Platform")[[bool] $Platform]
    }
  
    if ($PSCmdlet.ShouldProcess("`n" + ($urls -join "`n") + "`n")) { 
      if ($CopyUrl) {
        Write-Verbose "Copying URL(s) to clipboard: $urls"
        Set-Clipboard $urls
      }
      else {
        Write-Verbose "Navigating to: $urls"
        Start-Process $urls
      }
    }
  
  }
}