We want to assign our string value to a variable named $x; that’s why we started things off with $x = followed by @", the syntax that represents the start of our here-string. (Which, we should add, needs to be on a line all by itself.) We then indicate the end of the here-string by typing the construction "@, also on a line by itself.

The cool part, however, is what lies in-between the beginning and the end of the here-string. In between the opening line and the closing line all we have to do is type the string value exactly the way we want it assigned; in turn, PowerShell will respect any line breaks, double and single quote marks, and blank spaces we type in. Suppose we wanted to type each word and punctuation mark on a separate line. In that case, our here-string (or at least the first part of it) would look like this:

$x = @" " Curiouser and curiouser ! " "@

And what do you suppose will show up onscreen when we echo back the value of $x? Good guess:

" Curiouser and curiouser ! "

As you might expect, this is also a nifty way to add comments to a script: you can type as much text as you want any way you want, and without having to comment out each and every line. Here’s a comment that uses a here-string:

$x = @"

This script demonstrates the use of "here-strings." Anything typed between the top line of this code block and the bottom line of this code block will be formatted exactly as shown here.

"@

[http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/resources/ pstips/jun07/pstip0629.mspx]