else not being executed within foreach - powershell

Question

I am trying to write the following script, which checks a folder for a set of files, if they exist, move them to an "archive" folder. If they don't, write an error message to screen and to a log file.
The files move fine, so the first part of the IF is working correctly, but if there are no files to move, the else should kick in and output the error....but it is not.
variables.ps1:
#----- define parameters -----#
#----- Treat All Errors as Terminating -----#
$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
#----- Set count to 0 -----#
$count = 0
#----- get current date ----#
$Now = Get-Date
#----- define amount of days ----#
$Days = "0"
#----- define folder where files are located ----#
$SourceFolder = "C:\HG1\Test\Files"
#----- define folder where files are to be moved to ----#
$DestFolder = "C:\HG1\Test\Files\Archive"
#----- define folder where files are to be moved to ----#
$LogPath = "C:\HG1\archive.log"
#----- define extension ----#
$Extension = "*.log"
#----- define LastWriteTime parameter based on $Days ---#
$LastWrite = $Now.AddDays(-$Days)
#----- get files based on lastwrite filter and specified folder ---#
$Files = Get-Childitem $SourceFolder -Include $Extension -Recurse | Where {$_.LastWriteTime -le "$LastWrite"}
archive_files.ps1
#----- Call variables file variables.ps1 - MUST BE IN SAME LOCATION AS SCRIPT ----#
. ./variables.ps1
foreach ($File in $Files)
{
if ($File -ne $NULL)
{
move-item -path $File.FullName -destination $DestFolder
Add-Content $LogPath -value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t INFO: Archived File $File")
}
else
{
write-host "ERROR: No files to archive" -ForegroundColor "Red"
Add-Content $LogPath -value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t ERROR: No files to archive")
}
}
Add-Content $LogPath -value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t INFO: ***Archiving script completed successfully***")
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

#----- Call variables file variables.ps1 - MUST BE IN SAME LOCATION AS SCRIPT ----#
. ./variables.ps1
if ($File)
{
foreach ($File in $Files)
{
move-item -path $File.FullName -destination $DestFolder
Add-Content $LogPath -value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t INFO: Archived File $File")
}
}
else
{
write-host "ERROR: No files to archive" -ForegroundColor "Red"
Add-Content $LogPath -value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t ERROR: No files to archive")
}
Add-Content $LogPath -value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t INFO: ***Archive script completed successfully***")
here,
Foreach each won't process for $null value
so include foreach if value is not null
if won't enter for $null value so " -ne $null is" not necessary
hopes this works for you,
Regards,
Kvprasoon

Answer 2

You should use the Test-Path cmdlet to check whether the file exist:
foreach ($File in $Files)
{
if (Test-Path $File)
{
move-item -path $File.FullName -destination $DestFolder
Add-Content $LogPath -value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t INFO: Archived File $File")
}
else
{
write-host "ERROR: No files to archive" -ForegroundColor "Red"
Add-Content $LogPath -value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t ERROR: No files to archive")
}
}
Add-Content $LogPath -value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t INFO: ***Archiving script completed successfully***")

Answer 3

You've got that logic backwards there.
Each $File in $Files will always be something, but the $Files collection itself may be empty:
if(-not $Files)
{
foreach($File in $Files)
{
Move-Item -Path $File.FullName -Destination $DestFolder
Add-Content $LogPath -Value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t INFO: Archived File $File")
}
}
else
{
Write-Host "ERROR: No files to archive" -ForegroundColor "Red"
Add-Content $LogPath -Value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t ERROR: No files to archive")
}
Add-Content $LogPath -value ("$((Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')) `t INFO: ***Archiving script completed successfully***")