I'm searching through directories recursively. I want to find files that contain text i'm looking for OR the text is in the content of the file.
For example, if I search for "hello", i'd normally do this:
Find matching file names:
get-childitem -filter "*hello*"
Find files that have text in them:
get-childitem -recurse | select-string -pattern "*hello*"
But I want to do both at the same time. Which means you could have files that don't have "hello" in the name but it does appear in the contents of the file. Or visa versa.
EDIT: I considered using where-object with an -or but having trouble figuring out how to construct that properly.
EDIT: My mistake, meant to include select-string in the example.
Ideas?
Thanks
I don't think its possible to use -Filter because you might be excluding those files which's content could contain the word you're looking for.
An easy approach I could think of, is looping through all files in $startPath recursively and, if the word is contained in the file's name, go to the next iteration with continue or break if you want to stop the loop at first finding, and of course, use -Raw for Get-Content:
$startPath = 'C:\path\to\startFolder'
$magicWord = 'hello'
foreach($file in Get-ChildItem $startPath -Recurse -File)
{
if($file.Name -match $magicWord)
{
$file
continue
# or break here if you want to stop the loop
}
if((Get-Content $file.FullName -Raw) -match $magicWord)
{
$file
# break here if you want to stop the loop
}
}
Not sure if using this would be faster or not:
if([system.io.file]::ReadAllText($file.FullName) -match $magicWord)
{
...
}
I am new to PowerShell and new to IT. I've been asked by my boss to write a PowerShell script that will identify filenames that have no file extension and then change them to .PDF files. After doing some research online I've found a script that had a similar purpose and tried to tailor it to my needs:
$proj_files = Get-ChildItem | Where-Object {$_.Extension -eq "."}
ForEach ($file in $proj_files) {
$filenew = $file.Name + ".pdf"
Rename-Item $file $filenew
}
My first question is does the logic in this script make sense? Is "Extension -eq "." the correct syntax to specify a filename with no extension? My other thought was to use Extension -eq "null" or something similar. If I do need to use a null value, what would that look like? My other question is how would I specify a given directory for this script to search through, or would I even need to? My thought here would be to specify the path under Get-ChildItem, like so: $proj_files = Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\mthomas\Documents | Where-Object {$_.Extension -eq ".'} Does that seem correct? I am hesitant to test this out before getting a second opinion because I don't want to change every file extension on my computer or something stupid like that. Anyhow, thanks everyone for the help.
You can do something like the following to find files in a directory without an extension, and rename them to have a PDF extension:
$directory = "C:\Path\To\Directory"
Get-ChildItem -File $directory | Where-Object { -Not $_.Extension } | Foreach-Object {
$_ | Rename-Item -NewName "$($_.Name).pdf"
}
Let's break this down
$directory = "C:\Path\To\Directory"
This is where we set the directory we want to locate files without extensions in. It doesn't have to be set as a static variable but since you are just getting your feet wet with Powershell this keeps it simple.
Get-ChildItem -File $directory
Get-ChildItem is the cmdlet which is used to list directory contents (also aliased to gci, ls, and dir). -File tells it to only list files, and $directory references the directory we want to search from, which we set above. Note that Get-ChildItem might behave differently depending on the provider (for example, you can also use Get-ChildItem on a registry key), but if you are working with a filesystem path you do not need to worry about additional providers for this case.
|
Passes the previous output down the pipeline. This is a common operator in Powershell, but basically you can string commands together using it. You can read more about the pipeline at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/getting-started/fundamental/understanding-the-windows-powershell-pipeline?view=powershell-6
Where-Object { -Not $_.Extension }
Where-Object evaluates a condition on one or more items, and filters out items that do not meet the condition. Since Get-ChildItem can return one or more files, we use the -Not operator in the ScriptBlock (denoted by {} and make sure that there is no extension on the file. $_, or $PSItem, is a special variable used by the pipeline, in this case $_ equals each item returned by Get-ChildItem. The Extension property exists on files returned by Get-ChildItem, and will be blank, or evaluated as $False. So filtering on -Not $_.Extension is the same as saying to only match objects that are missing a file extension. Where-Object can be read about in more detail here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/where-object?view=powershell-6
Foreach-Object { SCRIPTBLOCK }
Similar to Where-Object, but runs code for each object in the pipeline rather than evaluating and filtering out objects which don't match a condition. In this case, we pipe the each file without an extension to Rename-Item, which I'll break down further below. More information on Foreach-Object can be read about here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/foreach-object?view=powershell-6
$_ | Rename-Item -NewName "$($_.Name).pdf"
Rename the current file in the Foreach-Object block to the new name with .pdf appended. The "$( ... )" is called a sub-expression, which is a string interpolation technique that lets you run a command within a string, and make its output part of the string. You could achieve the same effect by doing $_ | Rename-Item -NewName ( $_.Name + ".pdf" ) which just adds a .pdf to the end of the current name.
Summary
The pipeline is a very powerful tool in Powershell, and is key to writing efficient and less bloated scripts. It might seem complex at first, but the more you use it the less daunting it will seem. I highly suggest reading the additional documentation I linked to above as it should help fill in any gaps I may have missed in my explanations above.
To simplify the breakdown above, the command does this, in this order: Gets all files in the specified directory, selects only the files that do not have an extension, then renames each file found without an extension to have a .pdf at the end.
The logic in the script - the overall shape - makes understandable sense, but is not right for it to work as you intend.
Testing on my computer here:
new-item -ItemType File -Name 'test'
get-item test | format-list *
get-item test | foreach { $_.extension; $_.Extension.length; $_.extension.GetType().name }
a file with no extension shows up with an empty string (blank content, length 0, type String, so your where-object { $_.Extension -eq "." } needs to be looking for "" instead of ".".
But:
Get-ChildItem | Where-Object { $_.Extension -eq '' }
shows me some folders as well, because they also have no extension in their name, so you might want Get-ChildItem -File to restrict it to just files.
how would I specify a given directory for this script to search through, or would I even need to?
It would run in the current directory, whichever shows up in your prompt PS C:\wherever> so if you need it to run somewhere else, yes you'd need to change to that folder or specify in get-childitem -LiteralPath 'c:\path\to\wherever'. You haven't mentioned subfolders, if you need those included, get-childitem -Recurse switch as well.
Speaking of subfolders, your $filenew = $file.Name + ".pdf" only makes sense in the current directory, I think it would work better if you used the full filename including path, so they definitely get renamed in the same place they were found $filenew = $file.FullName + ".pdf"
Is "Extension -eq "." the correct syntax to specify a filename with no extension?
Being careful here, what you wrote in your question was correct syntax but incorrect string content. What you've written here with quotes on the left of Extension is incorrect syntax.
My other thought was to use Extension -eq "null" or something similar. If I do need to use a null value, what would that look like?
And being careful here, "null" is not a null value, it's a string containing the four letter word 'null'.
You don't need to use a null value here, normally if you do it looks like $null, but in this case you could use where-object { [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($_.Extension) } but there's no benefit to it, I think.
And, as a stylistic choice, both "" and '' are strings, but "" can contain variables and sub-expressions, so if you have plain text it's a neat habit to use '' for it because it makes it clear to the reader that you intend there to be nothing special happening in this string.
Then your code, with parameter names given, looks more like:
$proj_files = Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath 'C:\Users\mthomas\Documents' |
Where-Object {$_.Extension -eq '.'}
foreach ($file in $proj_files)
{
$filenew = $file.FullName + '.pdf'
Rename-Item -LiteralPath $file.FullName -NewName $filenew
}
If you want to see what it will do, use -WhatIf on the end of Rename-Item:
Rename-Item -LiteralPath $file.FullName -NewName $filenew -WhatIf
Then it won't make the changes, just tell you what it would do.
I am hesitant to test this out before getting a second opinion because I don't want to change every file extension on my computer or something stupid like that
Sensible. But internet people are going to tell you to test their code before running it, because ultimately it's your responsibility to safeguard your files, rather than trust random code from the internet, so having test folders, having a spare machine, having a good backup, playing with PowerShell in pieces until you are happy with what they do, they're all good habits to get into as well.
I need to search through 350,000 files to find any that contains certain patterns in the filename. However, the list of patterns (id numbers) that it needs to match is 1000! So I would very much like to be able to script this, because they were originally planning on doing it manually...
So to make it clearer:
Check each File in folder and all subfolders.
If the filename contains any of the IDs in the text file then move it to another file
Otherwise, ignore it.
So I have the basic code that works with a single value:
$name = Get-Content 'C:\test\list.txt'
get-childitem -Recurse -path "c:\test\source\" -filter "*$name*" |
move-item -Destination "C:\test\Destination"
If I change $name to point to a single ID, it works, if I have a single ID in the txt file, it works. Multiple items in a list:
1111111
2222222
3333333
It fails. What am I doing wrong? How can I get it to work? I'm still new to powershell so please be a little more descriptive in any answers.
Your test fails because it is effectively trying to do this (using your test data).
Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Path "c:\test\source\" -filter "*1111111 2222222 3333333*"
Which obviously does not work. It is squishing the array into one single space delimited string. You have to account for the multiple id logic in a different way.
I am not sure which of these will perform better so make sure you test both of these with your own data to get a better idea of execution time.
Cycle each "filter"
$filters = Get-Content 'C:\test\list.txt'
# Get the files once
$files = Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Path "c:\test\source" -File
# Cycle Each ID filter manually
$filters | ForEach-Object{
$singleFilter
$files | Where-Object{$_.Name -like "*$singleFilter*"}
} | Move-Item -Destination "C:\test\Destination"
Make one larger filter
$filters = Get-Content 'C:\test\list.txt'
# Build a large regex alternative match pattern. Escape each ID in case there are regex metacharacters.
$regex = ($filters | ForEach-Object{[regex]::Escape($_)}) -join "|"
# Get the files once
Get-ChildItem -Recurse -path "c:\test\source" -File |
Where-Object{$_.Name -match $regex} |
Move-Item -Destination "C:\test\Destination"
try following this tutorial on how to use get-content function. Looks like when you have a multiple line file, you get an array back. you then have to iterate through your array and use the logic you used for only one item
I am trying to compose a script/one liner, which will find files which have been modified over 10 hours ago in a specific folder and if there are no files I need it to print some value or string.
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\blaa\*.* | where {$_.Lastwritetime -lt (date).addhours(-10)}) | Format-table Name,LastWriteTime -HideTableHeaders"
With that one liner I am getting the wanted result when there are files with
modify time over 10 hours, but I also need it to print value/string if there are
no results, so that I can monitor it properly.
The reason for this is to utilize the script/one liner for monitoring purposes.
Those cmdlet Get-ChildItem and where clause you have a would return null if nothing was found. You would have to account for that separately. I would also caution the use of Format-Table for output unless you are just using it for screen reading. If you wanted a "one-liner" you would could this. All PowerShell code can be a one liner if you want it to be.
$results = Get-ChildItem -Path C:\blaa\*.* | where {$_.Lastwritetime -lt (date).addhours(-10)} | Select Name,LastWriteTime; if($results){$results}else{"No files found matching criteria"}
You have an added bracket in your code, that might be a copy artifact, I had to remove. Coded properly would look like this
$results = Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\blaa\*.*" |
Where-Object {$_.Lastwritetime -lt (date).addhours(-10)} |
Select Name,LastWriteTime
if($results){
$results
}else{
"No files found matching criteria"
}
I have a script that searches for the lastest modified log file. It then is suppose to read that text file and pick up a key phrase then display the line after it.
So far i have this
$logfile = get-childitem 'C:\logs' | sort {$_.lastwritetime} | where {$_ -notmatch "X|Zr" }| select -last 1
$error = get-content $logfile | select-string -pattern "Failed to Modify"
an example line it reads is this
20150721 12:46:26 398fbb92 To CV Failed to Modify
CN=ROLE-x-USERS,OU=Role Groups,OU=Groups,DC=gyp,DC=gypuy,DC=net
MDS_E_BAD_MEMBERSHIP One or more members do not exist in the directory
They key bit of information im trying to get here is
Can anyone help?
Thanks
Try this:
$error = get-content $logfile |
Where-Object { $_ -like "*Failed to Modify*" } |
Select-Object -First 1
This is provided you are looking for the first match in the file. The Select-String cmdlet returns a MatchInfo object. Depending on your requirements there might be no reason to add that level of complexity if you're just looking to pull the first occurrence of this error in the file.
Failing this, my recommendation would be to debug this and step through it. Break on the Get-Content call and see what $logfile is. Run Get-Content $logfile and see what that content looks like. Then do your Select-String on that output. See what MatchInfo.ToString() looks like. Maybe you'll see some disconnect.
Again, my recommendation would be to just parse manually through the file and work with the Where-Object cmdlet at this point.
This shoul work:
get-childitem 'c:\logs' | where {$_.Name -notmatch "X|Zr" } | sort {$_.lastwritetime} | select -last 1 | select-string "Failed to Modify"
But I don't like "X|Zr" part. If your log files have .txt extension, it'll not list them because you're saying you don't want any file containing "x" or "zr" in entire name. Use $_.BaseName (name without extension), or modify regular expression.