Powershell functions copy-item error-exception with 2 parameters [duplicate]

Question

Here is my question;

$source = "\\Somewhere\Overtherainbow\something.exe"
$destinationSource = "C:\temp"


Function MyCopyFunction([string]$from, [string]$to)
{
   $src= $source+$from
   $dest = $destinationSource+$to
    
   Copy-Item -Path $src -Destination $dest -Recurse
}

Function MyFunction([string]$p1, [string]$p2)
{
    MyCopy($p1, $p2)
}

    switch("1"){
    "1" {
     MyFunction("Dir1","Dir2") break;
}
}

Simple right ? Why is it when the "MyCopyFunction(p1,p2)" get called with 2 parameters it complains that the second parameter does not exist. But if I turn "MyCopyFunction($p1)" with only 1 parameter instead of two and supply the -Destination value manually, no issues what is the source of the issue here?

Here is the exception.... Copy-Item -Path $from -Destination $to -Recurse CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: ( :String) [Copy-Item], ItemNotFoundExcptionFullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.CopyItemCommand

I know that you can call a function with or without () MyFunction "para1","para2" is the same as MyFunction("para1","para2") is this not true ? And I've already tried this with and without () same result — Ahhzeee
– Ahhzeee, Commented Sep 23, 2021 at 0:52
In short: PowerShell functions, cmdlets, scripts, and external programs must be invoked like shell commands - foo arg1 arg2 - not like C# methods - foo('arg1', 'arg2'). If you use , to separate arguments, you'll construct an array that a command sees as a single argument. To prevent accidental use of method syntax, use Set-StrictMode -Version 2 or higher, but note its other effects. See this answer for more information. — mklement0
– mklement0, Commented Sep 23, 2021 at 2:00

mklement0 · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-23 02:18:21Z

3

The main problem is here,

MyCopyFunction(p1,p2)

When you call the function like this, PowerShell treats the input as a single array containing two elements and pass it positionally to the first variable(In this case it's $from). Instead of this, you should change the call site to MyCopyFunction "Dir1" "Dir2" to make it work.

edited Sep 23, 2021 at 2:18

mklement0

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answered Sep 23, 2021 at 1:07

user459872

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