binaryout.ps1

function binaryout {
    <#
    .SYNOPSIS
        Workaround for PowerShell processing the output of all external programs as strings
    
    .DESCRIPTION
        PowerShell treats any output from an external program as string which should be
        split whenever it sees LF or CR LF. As a workround this calls the program with
        Start-Process and redirects standard output to a file - on completion the file
        is read and sent as a bytestream to the next process.
        Optionally the file can be named and retained - like a tee operation, and when
        this is done the output can be surpressed
    
    .EXAMPLE
        binaryout curl.exe "https://jhoneill.github.io/assets/james.jpg" | Set-Content  -AsByteStream  -Path .\james.jpg
    
        Uses curl to get a jpg file and sends it to file - note that > is the equivalent of
        Set-content without -AsByteSteam and will cause the bytes to be treated as strings
    
    .EXAMPLE
        binaryout curl.exe "https://jhoneill.github.io/assets/james.jpg" -teefile .\avatar.jpg -NoOutput
    
        if the only requirement is to get a file then using the tee option with no output will do that.
    #>
    [cmdletbinding(PositionalBinding = $false, DefaultParameterSetName = 'MakeTmpFile')]
    param (
        #Filepath to pass to Start process (i.e. the command)
        [Parameter(Position = 0)]
        [string]$FilePath,
        #If specified keeps the temporary file effectively doing a TEE
        [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'UseTeeFile', Mandatory = $true)]
        [String]$TeeFile,
        #If specified with -TeeFile doesn't output the results
        [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'UseTeeFile')]
        [switch]$NoOutput,
        #Arguments to pass to Start-Process - collects the rest of the command line
        [Parameter(ValueFromRemainingArguments)]
        $Argumentlist
    )

    process {
        if ($TeeFile) {
            $tempPath = $ExecutionContext.SessionState.Path.GetUnresolvedProviderPathFromPSPath( $TeeFile )
        } else {
            $tempPath = [System.IO.Path]::GetTempFileName()
            Write-Verbose "$($MyInvocation.MyCommand.Name) is writing to the temporary file $tempPath"
        }

        $startInfo = [System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo]@{
            FileName               = $FilePath
            Arguments              = $Argumentlist
            UseShellExecute        = $false
            CreateNoWindow         = $true
            RedirectStandardOutput = $true
            RedirectStandardError  = $ErrorActionPreference -eq 'Continue'
        }
        try {
            $process = [System.Diagnostics.Process]::Start($startInfo)
            $file = [io.file]::OpenWrite($tempPath)
            $buffer = [byte[]]::new(4096)
            while (0 -lt ($count = $process.StandardOutput.BaseStream.Read($buffer, 0, $buffer.Length))) {
                $file.Write($buffer, 0, $count)
            }
            
            if ($ErrorActionPreference -eq 'Continue') {
                $sb = [text.stringbuilder]::new()
                while ($null -ne ($line = $process.StandardError.ReadLine())) {
                    $null = $sb.AppendLine($line)
                }
                if ($sb.Length -gt 0) {
                    Write-Error $sb.ToString()
                }
            }
            $process.WaitForExit()
        } finally {
            if ($file) {
                $file.Dispose()
            }
            if ($process) {
                $process.Dispose()
            }
        }
        
        if (-not $NoOutput) {
            [io.file]::ReadAllBytes($tempPath)
            if (-not $TeeFile) {
                Write-Verbose "$($MyInvocation.MyCommand.Name) is deleting the temporary file $tempPath"
                Remove-Item $tempPath -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
            }
        }
    }
}