I would like to create a powershell function that can take 2 different types of inputs for one parameter.
The example I will use is a copy-file function.
If I call the function like this Copy-File –FileToCopy “c:\test” –FileDestination “c:\dest”
I would like the function to get all the files in the folder and copy them to the destination.
If I call the function like this Copy-File –FileToCopy “c:\filesToCopy.txt” –FileDestination “c:\dest”
I would like the function to get the list of files from the text file and then copy them to the filedestination.
So the part I am not sure how to figure out is how to get the –FileToCopy parameter to be intelligent and know what type of input I am giving it.
The actual code to copy the files I can do.
There may be more elegant methods, but you could do something like this:
1. Append "*" to your parameter value and use Test-Path against it. In this case, you're treating it like a folder, therefore c:\test would become c:\test\*.
2a. If Test-Path returns true, you have a folder and can proceed with copying its content.
2b. If Test-Path returns false, go to step 3.
3. Use Test-Path against the parameter as it is. If it returns true, then it is a file.
Update
Actually, it's much simpler than I thought. You can use parameter PathType with TestPath and specify if you're looking for a folder or a file.
- PathType Container will look for a folder.
- PahType Leaf will look for a file.
I'd determine if it's a text file or a folder and go from there. The function below should get you started and after the script has been run it can be executed like Copy-Thing -filename "sourcefile.txt" -Destination "C:\place"
Function Copy-Thing([string]$fileName,[string]$destination){
$thing = Get-Item $fileName
if ($thing.Extension -eq ".txt"){
Get-Content | %{
Copy-Item -Path $_ -Destination $destination
}
}
elseif ($thing.PSIsContainer){
Get-ChildItem -Path $fileName | %{
Copy-Item -Path $_.FullName -Destination $destination
}
}
else{
Write-Host "Please specifiy a valid filetype (.txt) or folder"
}
}
Related
I'm attempting to write a powershell script that will search recursively for a file and copy it to another location on a local drive with the date appended to it.
However that file could be in multiple different directories. (ex. c:\users\default\Bookmark.txt, c:\users\profile1\Bookmark.txt, c:\users\profile2\Bookmark.txt...etc.)
To distinguish between the different directories I was thinking of appending the directory name containing the file to the filename along with the date. (ex. filename-directoryName-date)
Here is what I have so far:
get-childitem -path "$env:userprofile\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data" -filter Bookmarks -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Force | copy-item -Destination $env:userprofile\Bookmarks-$(get-date -UFormat %d-%m-%Y)
This works if it only finds 1 copy of the Bookmarks file and it only appends the date.
To figure out the names of the containing folders I used this command.
(get-childitem -path "$env:userprofile\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data" -filter Bookmarks -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Force).Directory.Name
I need to somehow put this two together and so it outputs :
c:(whateverlocation)\Bookmark-DirectoryName-Date
I hope I'm making sense.
Dan,
When you use the Get-ChildItem command (alias gci) it will return to you an array of DirectoryInfo and FileInfo objects, one for each item it finds. If you are looking for files called "Bookmarks" (or bookmark.txt...can't tell from your examples which one you're looking for) then you can use the following command to get you a list of all of them:
[array]$FileList = gci -Recurse -File -Filter "Bookmarks"
The [array] designation is necessary to be sure the object is an array regardless of how many items are returned. The filter can have wildcards if you don't know the exact filename. What that leaves me with is an array object named $FileList containing all of the information about the files. You can read all about the properties and methods available in these objects at this Microsoft help page.
For this task, we'll need the .FullName property, which tells you the full path & name of each item (which can be used as your source) and the .BaseName & .Extension properties, which give you the filename and extension respectively. Using these properties, you can copy each of the files you find to a destination. Putting it all together, you get something like this:
$SourceFolder = "$($env:userprofile)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data"
$DestFolder = '' #Path to Destination Folder
[array]$FileList = gci -Path $SourceFolder -Recurse -File -Filter "Bookmarks"
ForEach ($F in $FileList) {
Copy-Item $F.FullName (Join-Path $DestFolder ($F.Name + 'stuff to add to end of filename' + $F.Extension))
}
In this case, since the files are named 'Bookmarks', the $F.Extension should be blank. If using a more traditional filename, the pattern above will help you fit your changes in between the filename and the extension.
Hope this helps you out. If it does, please accept the answer using the check mark on the left.
I am working on a script that modifies images in a folder, for the most part, it is done I use Get-ChildItem with the directory.
So what I am currently doing is making a variable called
$fileExtension = [IO.Path]::GetExtension($files[$counter].Name)
with an if statement that is like:
if($fileExtension -eq '.png' or
$fileExtensiono -eq '.jpg'. . . )
Is there a better way of doing this? I really want it to execute this function that modifies images if the file is an image, a folder could contain other items such as a zip which will crash the script if it picks up on it.
try Something like this:
get-childitem 'c:\temp\*' -file -include '*.png', '*.jpg'
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'm trying to teach myself enough powershell or batch programming to figure out to achieve the following (I've had a search and looked through a couple hours of Youtube tutorials but can't quite piece it all together to figure out what I need - I don't get Tokens, for example, but they seem necessary in the For loop). Also, not sure if the below is best achieved by robocopy or xcopy.
Task:
Define a list of files to retrieve in a csv (file name will be listed as a 13 digit number, extension will be UNKNOWN, but will usually be .jpg but might occasionally be .png - could this be achieved with a wildcard?)
list would read something like:
9780761189931
9780761189988
9781579657159
For each line in this text file, do:
Search a network folder and all subfolders
If exact filename is found, copy to an arbitrary target (say a new folder created on desktop)
(Not 100% necessary, but nice to have) Once the For loop has completed, output a list of files copied into a text file in the newly created destination folder
I gather that I'll maybe need to do a couple of things first, like define variables for the source and destination folders? I found the below elsewhere but couldn't quite get my head around it.
set src_folder=O:\2017\By_Month\Covers
set dst_folder=c:\Users\%USERNAME&\Desktop\GetCovers
for /f "tokens=*" %%i in (ISBN.txt) DO (
xcopy /K "%src_folder%\%%i" "%dst_folder%"
)
Thanks in advance!
This solution is in powershell, by the way.
To get all subfiles of a folder, use Get-ChildItem and the pipeline, and you can then compare the name to the insides of your CSV (which you can get using import-CSV, by the way).
Get-ChildItem -path $src_folder -recurse | foreach{$_.fullname}
I'd personally then use a function to edit the name as a string, but I know this probably isn't the best way to do it. Create a function outside of the pipeline, and have it return a modified path in such a way that you can continue the previous line like this:
Get-ChildItem -path $src_folder -recurse | foreach{$_.CopyTo (edit-path $_.fullname)}
Where "edit-directory" is your function that takes in the path, and modifies it to return your destination path. Also, you can alternatively use robocopy or xcopy instead of CopyTo, but Copy-Item is a powershell native and doesn't require much string manipulation (which in my experience, the less, the better).
Edit: Here's a function that could do the trick:
function edit-path{
Param([string] $path)
$modified_path = $dst_folder + "\"
$modified_path = $path.substring($src_folder.length)
return $modified_path
}
Edit: Here's how to integrate the importing from CSV, so that the copy only happens to files that are written in the CSV (which I had left out, oops):
$csv = import-csv $CSV_path
Get-ChildItem -path $src_folder -recurse | where-object{$csv -contains $_.name} | foreach{$_.CopyTo (edit-path $_.fullname)}
Note that you have to put the whole CSV path in the $CSV_path variable, and depending on how the contents of that file are written, you may have to use $_.fullname, or other parameters.
This seems like an average enough problem:
$Arr = Import-CSV -Path $CSVPath
Get-ChildItem -Path $Folder -Recurse |
Where-Object -FilterScript { $Arr -contains $PSItem.Name.Substring(0,($PSItem.Length - 4)) } |
ForEach-Object -Process {
Copy-Item -Destination $env:UserProfile\Desktop
$PSItem.Name | Out-File -FilePath $env:UserProfile\Desktop\Results.txt -Append
}
I'm not great with string manipulation so the string bit is a bit confusing, but here's everything spelled out.
My source files all reside in one folder whose path is contained in a variable named $template.
I need to specify the exact filename as each file goes to a different destination.
My goal is to merely concatenate the filename to the variable.
Example:
$template = "D:\source\templatefiles\"
Filename1 is: "graphic-183.jpg"
I have tried:
Join-Path $template graphic-183.jpg
Issuing this at the cli appears to do what I want.
But now, how do I reference this concatenated file path short of creating a new variable for each file? It isn't as simple as for-nexting my way through a list as depending on the filename that determines where the file goes.
I am toying with case else, elseIf, but surely it isn't this hard.
The bottom line is, I just want to prefix the folder path to each filename and hard code the destination as it will always be the same each time the script is run.
edit
I just edited this as I forgot to mention how I am trying to use this.
In my script I intend to have lines like:
Copy-Item -Path $template filename.ext -Destination $destfolder
It's the highlighted part above that I am trying to join $template to the filename.
Thanks for any advice.
-= Bruce D. Meyer
maybe this is what you want?
you can call cmdlets in place, using parentheses, like so:
Copy-Item -Path (Join-Path $template filename.ext) -Destination $destfolder
this causes PowerShell to go from "argument mode" to "expression mode" - i.e., it returns the output of the Join-Path cmdlet as an expression.
and yes, David's and Ansgar's suggestions are also helpful - try this to get full paths only:
(get-childitem $template) | select fullname
You could build the path like this:
$template = "D:\source\templatefiles\"
Copy-Item -Path "${template}filename.ext" ...
However, I think David's suggestion might be a better solution for your problem. You could map filenames to destination folders with a hash table and do something like this:
$locations = #{
"foo" = "C:\some",
"bar" = "C:\other",
...
}
Get-ChildItem $template | % { Copy-Item $_ $location[$_.Name] }