CODEWITHSUNDEEP
powershell
Johnno Nolan
Johnno Nolan

Reputation: 29657

Positional parameter cannot be found

I'm not sure why I'm getting the following error

Copy-Item : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument 'C:\Code\PS\Auths\2.jpg'. At C:\Code\PS\auth-grab.ps1:9 char:12

C:\Code\PS\Auths\2.jpg is the correct path.

(I'm getting one of these for each of the items in the pipeline)

When I echo $rv I get the correct pathand $_ should be right. Where am I going wrong?

oops script below :

function Generate-FileName($fi)
{           
    $rv = "C:\Code\PS\New\"+ $fi.Name
    #echo rv    
}

Get-ChildItem Auths\*.* -include 1.jpg, 2.jpg | 
ForEach-Object {        
    Copy-Item $_ -destination Generate-FileName(Get-ChildItem $_)       
}

Note if i echo $rv I get the path I want

Upvotes: 1

Views: 27815

Answers (2)

Angshuman Agarwal
Angshuman Agarwal

Reputation: 4866

Wrap the function - Generate-FileName in brackets like this -

ForEach-Object {        
    Copy-Item $_ -destination (Generate-FileName(Get-ChildItem $_))      
}

Enclosing it in parenthesis forces the expression.

OR

Copy the return value of the function in a variable and use the variable in the Copy-Item as below - 

function Generate-FileName($fi)
{           
    "C:\Code\PS\New\"+ $fi.Name
}

Get-ChildItem Auths\*.* -include 1.jpg, 2.jpg | 
ForEach-Object {   
    $destination =  Generate-FileName(Get-ChildItem $_)           
    Copy-Item $_ -destination $destination
}

Upvotes: 3

jumbo
jumbo

Reputation: 4868

I think your function Generate-FileName doesn't return anything.

I think your script generate this line with copy-item:

Copy-Item C:\Code\PS\Auths\2.jpg -destination

Try it like this:

function Generate-FileName($fi)
{           
    $rv = "C:\Code\PS\New\"+ $fi.Name
    return $rv # here is the change
}

Upvotes: 0

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