powershell and cmd array parameter no populating

Question

Afternoon on a friday, I am playing around with calling a powershell script from the cmd (similar to how Nuke does their call for "build") but I can't get an array parameter to correctly pass through and populate.

Here is the setup: I have 1 text file that is "masterswitch.cmd" and it is a one-liner that just calls the powershell script "masterswitch.ps1", all in the same directory.

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -NoProfile -File "%~dp0masterswitch.ps1" %*

The content of the "masterswitch.ps1" file is below.

[CmdletBinding()]
Param(
    [Alias("n")]
    [string]$meal,
    
    [Alias("e")]
    [array]$foods,
    
    [Alias("h")]
    [switch]$help
)

if ($Help){
    powershell -command "get-help $PSCommandPath -Detailed"
    exit
}
if ($meal.length -eq 0){
    Write-Output "`n No meal to eat"
    exit}
if ($foods.length -eq 0){
    Write-Output "`n No foods where provided"
    exit}
$i = 0
foreach ( $line in $foods) {
    write "[$i] $line"
    $i++
}

open up a cmd window and cd to the directory where those 2 files exist. Then run masterswitch -h works just fine. So does masterswitch -n lunch with the expected notification that -foods is missing.

But when I run masterswitch -n dinner -e burritos,nachos I get the output of [0] burritos,nachos.

What I should get, and what I get when I run it from the powershell ide, is:

[0] burritos
[1] nachos

So what in my setup of the one-liner "masterswitch.cmd" file is blocking the ability for powershell to properly parse my passed array? (yes, I realize I can turn it into a string and parse myself)

Update

Clarity to the answer below. All that had to happen was change that one liner from -File to -Command. So the new one liner is

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -NoProfile -Command "%~dp0masterswitch.ps1" %*

both [string[]] and [array] work correctly from the powershell ide but not when executing from the cmd call. Which is weird because it passes the other parameters just fine — Adrian Hoffman
– Adrian Hoffman, Commented Sep 24, 2021 at 20:48
when running from the normal command prompt or from the powershell ide? — Adrian Hoffman
– Adrian Hoffman, Commented Sep 24, 2021 at 20:57

lit · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-24 21:10:13Z

1

Does this code produce the results you are seeking?

PS C:\src\t> type .\foods.ps1
[CmdletBinding()]
Param(
    [Alias("n")]
    [string]$meal,

    [Alias("e")]
    [string[]]$foods,

    [Alias("h")]
    [switch]$help
)

if ($Help){
    powershell -command "get-help $PSCommandPath -Detailed"
    exit
}
if ($meal.length -eq 0){
    Write-Output "`n No meal to eat"
    exit}
if ($foods.length -eq 0){
    Write-Output "`n No foods where provided"
    exit}
$i = 0
foreach ( $line in $foods) {
    write "[$i] $line"
    $i++
}
PS C:\src\t> .\foods.ps1 -n lunch -e apple,orange
[0] apple
[1] orange

Update:

16:00:45.10  C:\src\t
C:>powershell -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command ".\foods.ps1 -n lunch -e apple,orange"
[0] apple
[1] orange

Update 2:

16:01:17.45  C:\src\t
C:>powershell -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command "C:\src\t\foods.ps1 -n lunch -e apple,orange"
[0] apple
[1] orange

edited Sep 24, 2021 at 21:10

answered Sep 24, 2021 at 20:57

lit

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4 Comments

Adrian Hoffman Over a year ago

yes, when running from a powershell environment it runs correctly. However if you run from a normal command prompt window, it does not

lit Over a year ago

@AdrianHoffman, I added an example of running it from cmd.exe.

Adrian Hoffman Over a year ago

yep, that I could get to work also. So how would I reshape that into the one-liner cmd file so I can run foods -n lunch -e apple,orange from the command line and not explicitly set those parameters in the file? Did I word that in a way that made sense?

lit Over a year ago

Run it as a -Command and not a -File.

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