How can I continue lines of a script block in PowerShell? - powershell

Question

I'm trying to write a Powershell function to create an OrganizationalUnit. I'm a PS newbie but I've pieced together:
function makeOU ($cn, $path)
{
$sb = [scriptblock]::Create(
"New-ADOrganizationalUnit $cn -path `"$path`"
-ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion 0"
)
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $server -Credential $Credential `
-ScriptBlock $sb
}
But when I invoke this later in the script, I get a message that -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion is an unknown cmdlet. If I make the command one line
"New-ADOrganizationalUnit $cn -path `"$path`" -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion 0"
it works.
As I see it, at the end of
"New-ADOrganizationalUnit $cn -path `"$path`"
there is an open parenthesis and an open quote so PS should be looking for more input. Ending that line with a back tick didn't help. Nor did converting the argument to Create() to the form #" ... "#. (This is different from Why I am getting PowerShell Parsing Error? in that I don't have any back ticks, certainly none with spaces after them.)
If I'm making an newbie error here and there's a better way to pass the function parameters to Invoke-Command, I'm open to rewriting but failing that, how can break the string passed to Create() onto multiple lines?

Answer 1

Chris Nelson: Your "if you really want to" makes it sound like I'm doing something
grossly anti-idomatic to PS. I'm perfectly willing to believe that so
I wonder how you'd write it.
Thing is, backticks are frowned upon in Posh community:
READ-02 Avoid backticks
In general, the community feels you should avoid using those backticks
as "line continuation characters" when possible. They're hard to read,
easy to miss, and easy to mistype. Also, if you add an extra
whitespace after the backtick in the above example, then the command
won't work. The resulting error is hard to correlate to the actual
problem, making debugging the issue harder.
Maximum Line Length
The preferred way to avoid long lines is to use splatting (see
About_Splatting) and PowerShell's implied line continuation inside
parentheses, brackets, and braces -- these should always be used in
preference to the backtick for line continuation when applicable, even
for strings
Since you've asked, how I'd write it, here is some examples:
"Structured"
function makeOU ($cn, $path)
{
$Template = 'New-ADOrganizationalUnit {0} -Path "{1}" -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion 0'
$ScriptBlock = [scriptblock]::Create(($Template -f $cn, $path))
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $server -Credential $Credential -ScriptBlock $ScriptBlock
}
"Splatted"
function makeOU ($cn, $path)
{
$Template = 'New-ADOrganizationalUnit {0} -Path "{1}" -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion 0'
$ScriptBlock = $Template -f $cn, $path
$Splat = #{
ComputerName = $server
Credential = $Credential
ScriptBlock = [scriptblock]::Create($ScriptBlock)
}
Invoke-Command #Splat
}
"Oneliner"
function makeOU ($cn, $path)
{
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $server -Credential $Credential -ScriptBlock (
[scriptblock]::Create(
('New-ADOrganizationalUnit {0} -Path "{1}" -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion 0' -f $cn, $path)
)
)
}
# Or, using parentheses:
function makeOU ($cn, $path)
{
Invoke-Command -ComputerName (
$server
) -Credential (
$Credential
) -ScriptBlock (
[scriptblock]::Create(
('New-ADOrganizationalUnit {0} -Path "{1}" -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion 0' -f $cn, $path)
)
)
}

Answer 2

Well, if you really want to format it that way, try this:
function makeOU ($cn, $path)
{
$sb = [scriptblock]::Create(
"New-ADOrganizationalUnit $cn -path (
`"$path`"
) -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion 0"
)
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $server -Credential $Credential `
-ScriptBlock $sb
}

Answer 3

If you know how-to escape inner " double quotes, and you know how-to spread a command on multiple lines using a Grave Accent as an escape character:
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $server -Credential $Credential `
-ScriptBlock $sb
then you know how-to do the last in a script block as well: just double the Grave Accent character:
$sb = [scriptblock]::Create(
"New-ADOrganizationalUnit $cn -path `"$path`" ``
-ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion 0"
)