Powershell - Copy Script Loop - powershell

Question

I have the below script:
function copyUserSettings {
Write-Host
$copyFrom = Read-Host 'Which Folders Do You Want To Copy FROM?'
Write-Host
$copyTo = Read-Host 'Which Folders Do You Want To Copy TO? (Enter a Number OR Range eg. 12-18)'
Write-Host
IF ($copyTo.Contains("-")) {
$copyToStart = $copyTo.Split("-")[0]
$copyToEnd = $copyTo.Split("-")[1]
$copyToStart..$copyToEnd | foreach{
Copy-Item -Path $rootPath\FOLDER\$copyFrom\US*.DAT -Destination $rootPath\FOLDER\$_
}
} else {
Copy-Item -Path $rootPath\FOLDER\$copyFrom\US*.DAT -Destination $rootPath\FOLDER\$copyTo
}
}
The user is supposed to enter where to copy the files from (all the folder names are just a number), and where to copy the files to (also just a number), by entering a single folder name or a range (ie 12-18). If I enter a single number the above script works properly, but if I enter a range the files don't copy and I don't get any feedback error or anything.
Edit1: $rootPath is defined earlier in the script.
Edit2: Modified code above per #tnw's suggestion.
Thanks in advance for your help. If you need any more details please let me know.

Answer 1

It appears you've misplaced a closing bracket. I've moved that bracket to where it should be (I think). You should exercise better tabbing to avoid these issues:
function copyUserSettings {
Write-Host
$copyFrom = Read-Host 'Which Folders Do You Want To Copy FROM?'
Write-Host
$copyTo = Read-Host 'Which Folders Do You Want To Copy TO? (Enter a Number OR Range eg. 12-18)'
Write-Host
IF ($copyTo -Contains "-") {
$copyToStart = $copyTo.Split("-")[0]
$copyToEnd = $copyTo.Split("-")[1]
$copyToStart..$copyToEnd | foreach {
Copy-Item -Path $rootPath\FOLDER\$copyFrom\US*.DAT -Destination $rootPath\FOLDER\$_
} #this bracket was missing
} else {
Copy-Item -Path $rootPath\FOLDER\$copyFrom\US*.DAT -Destination $rootPath\FOLDER\$copyTo
}
} #you had an extra closing bracket here
EDIT: Figured it out. Look at this:
"12-18" -Contains "-"
Evaluates to false, so your if never evaluates to true. This is because -Contains is for collections, not substrings. From the documentation: "Tells whether a collection of reference values includes a single test value"
Try this instead:
IF ($copyTo.Contains("-"))
You can also use the -Match operator:
IF ($copyTo -Match "-")

Answer 2

The -contains operator checks if a set (e.g. a list/array) contains a particular item. To check if a string contains a particular character you need to use the -like or -match operator:
$copyTo -like '*-*'
$copyTo -match '-'
The -match operator would also allow you to verify if the string contains numbers in the right places and extract those numbers from the string:
if ($copyTo -match '^(\d+)-(\d+)$') {
$start = $matches[1]
$end = $matches[2]
}
Another option would be using the Contains() method of the string class as tnw suggested:
$copyTo.Contains('-')

Answer 3

If I understand your question correctly, $_ is supposed to be destination folder name. But your script doesn't know that so it treats $_ as file name. You need to create destination folders (if they don't exist) and change your Copy-Item destination. Example:
$copyToStart..$copyToEnd | foreach {
New-Item -Type Directory -Path $rootPath\FOLDER\$_
Copy-Item -Path $rootPath\FOLDER\$copyFrom\US*.DAT -Destination $rootPath\FOLDER\$_\US*.DAT
}