How can I pass an argument to a PowerShell script? - powershell

Question

There's a PowerShell script named itunesForward.ps1 that makes iTunes fast forward 30 seconds:
$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application
if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
$iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + 30
}
It is executed with a prompt line command:
powershell.exe itunesForward.ps1
Is it possible to pass an argument from the command line and have it applied in the script instead of the hardcoded 30 seconds value?

Answer 1

Tested as working:
#Must be the first statement in your script (not counting comments)
param([Int32]$step=30)
$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application
if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
$iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + $step
}
Call it with
powershell.exe -file itunesForward.ps1 -step 15
Multiple parameters syntax (comments are optional, but allowed):
<#
Script description.
Some notes.
#>
param (
# height of largest column without top bar
[int]$h = 4000,
# name of the output image
[string]$image = 'out.png'
)
And some example for advanced parameters, e.g. Mandatory:
<#
Script description.
Some notes.
#>
param (
# height of largest column without top bar
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[int]$h,
# name of the output image
[string]$image = 'out.png'
)
Write-Host "$image $h"
A default value will not work with a mandatory parameter. You can omit the =$true for advanced parameters of type boolean [Parameter(Mandatory)].

Answer 2

You can use also the $args variable (that's like position parameters):
$step = $args[0]
$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application
if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
$iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + $step
}
Then it can be called like:
powershell.exe -file itunersforward.ps1 15

Answer 3

Call the script from a batch file (*.bat) or CMD
PowerShell Core
pwsh.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World"
pwsh.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "path-to-script/Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World"
pwsh.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 Hello -Param2 World"
pwsh.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 Hello World"
pwsh.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 -Param2 World Hello"
PowerShell
powershell.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World"
powershell.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "path-to-script/Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World"
powershell.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 Hello -Param2 World"
powershell.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 Hello World"
powershell.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 -Param2 World Hello"
Call from PowerShell
PowerShell Core or Windows PowerShell
& path-to-script/Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World
& ./Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World
Script.ps1 - Script Code
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$True, Position=0, ValueFromPipeline=$false)]
[System.String]
$Param1,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$True, Position=1, ValueFromPipeline=$false)]
[System.String]
$Param2
)
Write-Host $Param1
Write-Host $Param2

Answer 4

Let PowerShell analyze and decide the data type. It internally uses a 'Variant' for this.
And generally it does a good job...
param($x)
$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application
if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
$iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + $x
}
Or if you need to pass multiple parameters:
param($x1, $x2)
$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application
if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
$iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + $x1
$iTunes.<AnyProperty> = $x2
}

Answer 5

# ENTRY POINT MAIN()
Param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
[String] $site,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
[String] $application,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
[String] $dir,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
[String] $applicationPool
)
# Create Web IIS Application
function ValidateWebSite ([String] $webSiteName)
{
$iisWebSite = Get-Website -Name $webSiteName
if($Null -eq $iisWebSite)
{
Write-Error -Message "Error: Web Site Name: $($webSiteName) not exists." -Category ObjectNotFound
}
else
{
return 1
}
}
# Get full path from IIS WebSite
function GetWebSiteDir ([String] $webSiteName)
{
$iisWebSite = Get-Website -Name $webSiteName
if($Null -eq $iisWebSite)
{
Write-Error -Message "Error: Web Site Name: $($webSiteName) not exists." -Category ObjectNotFound
}
else
{
return $iisWebSite.PhysicalPath
}
}
# Create Directory
function CreateDirectory([string]$fullPath)
{
$existEvaluation = Test-Path $fullPath -PathType Any
if($existEvaluation -eq $false)
{
new-item $fullPath -itemtype directory
}
return 1
}
function CreateApplicationWeb
{
Param(
[String] $WebSite,
[String] $WebSitePath,
[String] $application,
[String] $applicationPath,
[String] $applicationPool
)
$fullDir = "$($WebSitePath)\$($applicationPath)"
CreateDirectory($fullDir)
New-WebApplication -Site $WebSite -Name $application -PhysicalPath $fullDir -ApplicationPool $applicationPool -Force
}
$fullWebSiteDir = GetWebSiteDir($Site)f($null -ne $fullWebSiteDir)
{
CreateApplicationWeb -WebSite $Site -WebSitePath $fullWebSiteDir -application $application -applicationPath $dir -applicationPool $applicationPool
}

Answer 6

Create a PowerShell script with the following code in the file.
param([string]$path)
Get-ChildItem $path | Where-Object {$_.LinkType -eq 'SymbolicLink'} | select name, target
This creates a script with a path parameter. It will list all symbolic links within the path provided as well as the specified target of the symbolic link.

Answer 7

You can also define a variable directly in the PowerShell command line and then execute the script. The variable will be defined there, too. This helped me in a case where I couldn't modify a signed script.
Example:
PS C:\temp> $stepsize = 30
PS C:\temp> .\itunesForward.ps1
with iTunesForward.ps1 being
$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application
if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
$iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + $stepsize
}