A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '\*' - powershell

Question

I have a number of web services that I'm attempting to use PowerShell to install on a DEV server. I want to include, in the script, a section that copies all files and folders from a staging area to the respective folder on the DEV server.
In order to do this I've created two parallel string arrays - one containing the direct file paths of the staging folders and the other with the names of each folder on the DEV server (I use a couple other variables to store the rest of the directory).
I'd like to create a for loop and simply iterate over both arrays to complete the transfer of files/folders from staging to dev server. However when the loop runs the copy-item command gives this error each time
Copy-Item : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '*'.
If I decide not to use the loop, the error goes away and the files transfer properly. Only a couple days new to PowerShell so I'm not sure what's going on/haven't been able to find anything specific to this on the web.
Variables
#web services
$periscopeWebServices = "periscopeWebServices"
$periscopeRetrieveComments = "periscopeRetrieveComments"
$periscopeRetrieveGeneral = "periscopeRetrieveGeneral"
$periscopeRetrieveMasterSubs = "periscopeRetrieveMasterSubs"
$periscopeRetrieveProducers = "periscopeRetrieveProducers"
$periscopeRetrieveProfiles = "periscopeRetrieveProfiles"
$periscopeRetrieveRelationships = "periscopeRetrieveRelationships"
$periscopeSearch = "periscopeSearch"
$periscopeServicesArray = #($periscopeRetrieveComments, $periscopeRetrieveGeneral,
$periscopeRetrieveMasterSubs, $periscopeRetrieveProducers,
$periscopeRetrieveProfiles, $periscopeRetrieveRelationships,
$periscopeSearch)
#staging areas
$stagingComments = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveComments"
$stagingGeneral = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveGeneral"
$stagingMasterSubs = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveMasterSubs"
$stagingProducers = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveProducers"
$stagingProfiles = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveProfiles"
$stagingRelationships = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveRelationships"
$stagingSearch = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeSearch"
$stagingArray = #($stagingComments, $stagingGeneral, $stagingMasterSubs, $stagingProducers
$stagingProfiles, $stagingRelationships, $stagingSearch)
#server variables
$domain = "InsideServices.dev.com"
$directory = "E:\webcontent"
$domainpath = "$directory\$domain"
Loop - throws error on 'copy-item'
#copy files
Write-Host "Copying Files" -ForegroundColor Yellow
For ($i=0; $i -lt $periscopeServicesArray.Length; $i++)
{
Write-Host "Copying $($periscopeServicesArray[$i])" -ForegroundColor Yellow
if(Test-Path -path "$domainpath\$periscopeWebServices\$($periscopeServicesArray[$i])")
{
copy-item -Path $($stagingArray[$i])\* -Destination $domainpath\$periscopeWebServices\$($periscopeServicesArray[$i]) -recurse -Force
}
}
Succesful copy-item command
copy-item -Path $stagingComments\* -Destination $domainpath\$periscopeWebServices\$periscopeRetrieveComments -recurse -Force

Answer 1

I think it's because you're using a sub-expression $() inside the loop, but not outside. Try these:
"$($stagingArray[$i])\*"
Surrounding it in quotes makes it evaluate the whole thing as a string.
$($stagingArray[$i]) + '\*'
This will concatenate the result of the sub-expression and the string containing the \*.