Powershell doesnt shows else condition when get error - powershell

Question

when i tried to run the script
only first and second condition is triggered
when i tried for "e.g D:\random " where random folder is not exists, i got error message instead of triggering 3rd conditional "else"
function listChildFolder($folderPath)
{
#write your script here
$folderPath = Read-Host "input"
if ((Get-ChildItem $folderPath) -ne $null)
{ $folderPath| Get-ChildItem |Sort-Object -Property LastWriteTime -Descending |Format-Table name }
elseif ((Get-ChildItem $folderPath) -eq $null)
{ "Folder Empty" }
else {"Error: <Error message>"}
return
}

Answer 1

Since Get-ChildItem throws a terminating error when the folder path does not exist, the function will end there and the rest of the elseif or else conditions are never executed.
I would suggest doing this in a try{..} catch{..} so you can capture exceptions like that:
Something like
function listChildFolder {
[CmdletBinding()]
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, ValueFromPipeline = $true)]
[string]$folderPath
)
# capture the terminating error message when the path does not exist
# by specifying -ErrorAction Stop
try {
# since we do not add switch '-File' or '-Directory',
# the Get-ChildItem cmdlet will return both types
$filesAndFolders = Get-ChildItem -Path $folderPath -ErrorAction Stop
# next, find out if we found any files or folders in the path
# the '#()' forces the $filesAndFolders variable into an array, so we can use the .Count property
if (#($filesAndFolders).Count) {
$filesAndFolders | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object Name
}
else {
Write-Host "No files or subfolders found in '$folderPath'"
}
}
catch {
Write-Warning "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)"
}
}
$folderPath = Read-Host "Please enter a folder path"
# call the function
listChildFolder $folderPath
Another recommendation is that you use the PowerShell Verb-Noun naming convention for your function
As per your comment where you say you may not use try{..} catch{..}, there are other ways of course.
How about this:
function listChildFolder {
[CmdletBinding()]
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, ValueFromPipeline = $true)]
[string]$folderPath
)
# test if the given folder path exists
if (Test-Path -Path $folderPath -PathType Container) {
# since we do not add switch '-File' or '-Directory',
# the Get-ChildItem cmdlet will return both types
$filesAndFolders = Get-ChildItem -Path $folderPath
# next, find out if we found any files or folders in the path
# the '#()' forces the $filesAndFolders variable into an array, so we can use the .Count property
if (#($filesAndFolders).Count) {
$filesAndFolders | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object Name
}
else {
Write-Host "No files or subfolders found in '$folderPath'"
}
}
else {
Write-Warning "Error: '$folderPath' does not exist"
}
}
$folderPath = Read-Host "Please enter a folder path"
# call the function
listChildFolder $folderPath