Exception handling in powershell when it's invoked from batch script - powershell

Question

Unfortunately, my host application can't directly execute PowerShell scripts, so I have written a batch script which calls PowerShell script with content
#echo off
echo calling upgrade product with argument %2
if [%1] == [] (
powershell -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted -command "%~dp0Product1.ps1 "ProductConfig.xml" -verbose; exit $LASTEXITCODE"
) else (
cd %1
powershell -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted -command "%1\UpgradeProduct.ps1 %2 -verbose; exit $LASTEXITCODE"
)
And in my powershell script i have code like
$ErrorActionPreference="Stop"
try{
Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest
}catch{
Write-Warning "Some Error"
}
This executes fine when i execute the script from the PowerShell window(if $source is not found it will throw a terminating error and prints Some Error). But when executed from batch script if $source is not found Copy-Item throws a non terminating error and continues(Dosen't print Some Error).
How can i make the Copy-Item to throw a terminating error if $Source is not found?

Answer 1

You have nothing that stop in your catch block.
I presume Your Write-Warning is triggered, but code after your block is runned.
You must return something in your catch block, like:
$ErrorActionPreference="Stop"
try{
Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest
}catch{
Write-Warning "Some Error"
#$LASTEXITCODE is a special variable in powershell
$LASTEXITCODE = 1
exit $LASTEXITCODE
}
Note $LASTEXITCODE variable, it is a special variable, the equivalent to %errorlevel%, that is used by commands like "cmd calls" by PowerShell.
You can test it by using this command in PowerShell:
cmd.exe /c exit 5
$LASTEXITCODE
I suggest you to first do a check if path exists:
try{
if(Test-Path $source){
Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest -ErrorAction Stop
}else{
Write-Warning "$source not found."
$LASTEXITCODE = 1
exit $LASTEXITCODE
}
}catch{
Write-Error "Exception during copy: $($_)"
$LASTEXITCODE = 1
exit $LASTEXITCODE
}
Point of interest:
ErrorAction is used at Function level. Set it at script level will include this settings for many commands.
Exception will be thrown only if copy fail for something else: bad ACL, overwrite etc.