Pass array to PowerShell script executed with -File argument

Question

I have simple script which takes array argument:

param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string[]]$keys
)

for ($i = 0; $i -lt $keys.Length; ++$i) {
    Write-Host "$i. $($keys[$i])"
}

I need to execute it via powershell with -File argument (in order to address a TeamCity bug) like so:

powershell.exe -File Untitled2.ps1 -keys a

How can I pass parameter as array to my script? As long as I pass single key it works well, but it don't want to take more than one element.

I tried following among others:

powershell.exe -File Untitled2.ps1 -keys a,b
powershell.exe -File Untitled2.ps1 -keys:a,b
powershell.exe -File Untitled2.ps1 -keys $keys # where $keys is an array

Whatever I'd tried either I have "A positional parameter cannot be found" error, or all keys are joined in first array element.

Any ideas?

have you tried "a","b" or @("a","b")? or start-process with -argumentlist? — Paul
– Paul, Commented Nov 27, 2014 at 15:20
I need to use -file, because it is executed from teamcity, and it has bug which causes infinite loop in some cases when -Command is used. — Krzysztof
– Krzysztof, Commented Nov 27, 2014 at 15:24
This bypasses the requirment but could you pass the array as a string then cast it in the script instead with a Split for example? — Matt
– Matt, Commented Nov 27, 2014 at 16:04
Casting won't work, but it is quite obvious that I can pass param as csv for example an process it, but since ps supports array params, it should work for -File too. If it is not supported then I will be forced to do it differently, but for now nobody stated that this isn't supported. — Krzysztof
– Krzysztof, Commented Nov 27, 2014 at 16:30

Micky Balladelli · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-27 16:54:25Z

9

Here is another try. Note the ValueFromRemainingArguments=$true in the parameters declaration:

param([parameter(Mandatory=$true,ValueFromRemainingArguments=$true)]
    [string[]]$keys)
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $keys.Length; ++$i) {
    Write-Host "$i. $($keys[$i])"
}

Then I called the script via powershell.exe using the -file argument:

powershell.exe -File d:\scripts\array.ps1 "1" "a" "c"

This works to pass all those parameters as an array, the output is:

0. 1
1. a
2. c

In case you need to pass additional parameters you can name them in the usual way, such as:

param([parameter(Mandatory=$true,ValueFromRemainingArguments=$true)]
    [string[]]$keys,
    [string] $dummy)

And you can pass the additional parameters such as this:

powershell.exe -File d:\scripts\array.ps1 "1" "a" "c" -dummy "Z"

The $dummy parameter will in this case receive the value Z while the values of "1" "a" "c" will still be assigned to $keys as an array.

So if change the script to display the value of $dummy along with the rest I get:

0. 1
1. a
2. c
Dummy param is z

edited Nov 27, 2014 at 16:54

answered Nov 27, 2014 at 15:45

Micky Balladelli

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3 Comments

Krzysztof Over a year ago

I know that this works, but it don't answer my question.

Micky Balladelli Over a year ago

Modified answer to use -File.

Krzysztof Over a year ago

As long as there is one array parameter in script it does the job.

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