Accessible a powershell variable inside a function / workflow - powershell

Question

I am working on a Powershell script with a function and a Workflow. Unfortunately, I was unable to access variables inside the function. Here is an example :
$location = "c:\temp"
function PingComputer
{
Param($ip)
$res = Test-Connection -ComputerName $ip -quiet -Count 1
If ($res -eq "true")
{
Try
{
#Some tasks if pings are ok
#For example : copy-item -path $location -destination $dest -force -recurse
}
Catch
{
#Catch exceptions
}
}
Else
{
#Ping fail
}
}
workflow parallelPingCOmputer {
Param($ips)
$i=0
foreach -parallel($ip in $ips)
{
PingComputer($ip)
$workflow:i++
$count = $ips.Count
InlineScript {
#write-host "$using:i : " $using:ips.count " : $using:ips "
Write-Progress -Activity "Poste : $using:ip" -Status "Postes effectués : $using:i sur $using:count" -PercentComplete (($using:i / $using:Count) * 100)
sleep -s 1
}
}
}
$request = parallelPingComputer -ips $ip_list | Select-object date, computer, result | out-gridview
This is a simplified version of my current script. But, as you can see, the variable $location can't be accessed inside my function PingComputer. I tried to modify its scope as global or script, but nothing works.
The message I get with the copy-item is "path is null"... How can I make my variable accessible ?

Answer 1

If you want to reuse the function, just copy the function inside the workflow and keep it outside. Else, copy the function inside the workflow and remove the one outside like the code below. It could solve your problem without using a function inside the workflow.
I made an example on my Github :
Workflow Get-Ping{
Param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string[]]$Computers
)
Foreach -Parallel ($computer in $Computers){
$ping = $null
$version = $null
if(Test-Connection -ComputerName $computer -Count 1 -Quiet){
$ping = "Online"
$version = Get-WmiObject -Namespace "root\cimv2" -Class "Win32_OperatingSystem" -PSComputerName $computer | select Version
}
else{
$ping = "Offline"
}
#if no gwmi use -ComputerName $computer
$arrayResults = New-Object -Type PSObject -Property #{
Hostname = $computer
Ping = $ping
Version = $version.Version
}
return($arrayResults)
}
}
$computers = Get-Content ".\Computers.txt"
Write-Host "$($computers.Count) computers found" -ForegroundColor Green
Get-Ping -Computers $computers | Select-Object Hostname, Ping, Version | Sort-Object Hostname | Out-GridView -Title "Powershell Workflow - Ping"