Command in ForEach-Object script block unexpectedly prompts for arguments

Question

I have the following script

$sourceRoot = "C:\Users\skywalker\Desktop\deathStar\server"
$destinationRoot = "C:\Users\skywalker\Desktop\deathStar/server-sandbox"
$dir = get-childitem $sourceRoot  -Exclude .env, web.config   

Write-Output "Copying Folders"
$i=1
$dir| %{
    [int]$percent = $i / $dir.count * 100
    Write-Progress -Activity "Copying ... ($percent %)" -status $_  -PercentComplete $percent -verbose
    copy -Destination $destinationRoot  -Recurse -Force
    $i++

I tried to reference this post, but I ended up getting the following prompt in the powershell console.

Supply values for the following parameters:

Path[0]:

what is the rest of the error text? it _usually includes the line number AND at least part of the line of code ... — Lee_Dailey
– Lee_Dailey, Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 4:26
It’s not an error it’s actually asking me to input values for the path[0], because if I type something then it goes to path[1]... so I’m not sure what’s going on. And I should add I’m a newbie PS scripted — Snoopy
– Snoopy, Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 4:33
ah! i misunderstood. [blush] so ... do you know what cmdlet is producing that prompt? i suspect it is the copy -Destination line since you have that INSIDE a ForEach-Object block ... and didn't pass any source to it. — Lee_Dailey
– Lee_Dailey, Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 5:07

mklement0 · Accepted Answer · 2019-09-11 06:10:46Z

2

You're using % (ForEach-Object) to process input from the pipeline ($dir) object by object.

Inside the script block ({ ... }) that operates on the input, you must use the automatic $_ variable to reference the pipeline input object at hand - commands you use inside the script block do not themselves automatically receive that object as their input.

Therefore, your copy (Copy-Item) command:

copy -Destination $destinationRoot  -Recurse -Force

lacks a source argument and must be changed to something like:

$_ | copy -Destination $destinationRoot  -Recurse -Force

Without a source argument (passed to -Path or -LiteralPath) - which is mandatory - Copy-Item prompts for it, which is what you experienced (the default parameter is -Path).

In the fixed command above, passing $_ via the pipeline implicitly binds to Copy-Item's -LiteralPath parameter.

edited Sep 11, 2019 at 6:10

answered Sep 11, 2019 at 6:04

mklement0

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