CODEWITHSUNDEEP
powershellpowershell-2.0powershell-3.0
user1863886
user1863886

Reputation:

Export function

I am trying to create a function in which a user has to give a filename that can not containt an empty string. Besides that, the string can not contain a dot. When I run this function, I keep looping when I enter "test" for example. Any idea as to why?

 function Export-Output {
     do {
         $exportInvoke = Read-Host "Do you want to export this output to a new .txt file? [Y/N]"
     } until ($exportInvoke -eq "Y" -or "N")

     if ($exportInvoke -eq "Y") {
        do {
           $script:newLog = Read-Host "Please enter a filename! (Exclude the extension)"
           if ($script:newLog.Length -lt 1 -or $script:newLog -match ".*") {
               Write-Host "Wrong input!" -for red
           }
       } while ($script:newLog.Length -lt 1 -or $script:newLog -match ".*")

       ni "$script:workingDirectory\$script:newLog.txt" -Type file -Value $exportValue | Out-Null
    }
}

EDIT:

On a related note:

do {
    $exportInvoke = Read-Host "Do you want to export this output to a new .txt file? [Y/N]"
} until ($exportInvoke -eq "Y" -or "N")

When I use these lines of code I can simply hit enter to circumvent the Read-Host. When I replace "Y" -or "N" with simply "Y" it does not. Any idea as to why this is happening?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 86

Answers (2)

Ansgar Wiechers
Ansgar Wiechers

Reputation: 200213

The -match operator checks against a regular expression, so this:

$script:newLog -match ".*"

is testing if the filename contains any charachter except newline (.) 0 or more times (*). This condition will always be true, thus creating an infinite loop.

If you want to test for a literal dot, you must escape it:

$script:newLog -match '\.'

As for your other question, you're misunderstanding how logical and comparison operators work. $exportInvoke -eq "Y" -or "N" does not mean $exportInvoke -eq ("Y" -or "N"), i.e. variable equals either "Y" or "N". It means ($exportInvoke -eq "Y") -or ("N"). Since the expression "N" does not evaluate to zero, PowerShell interprets it as $true, so your condition becomes ($exportInvoke -eq "Y") -or $true, which is always true. You need to change the condition to this:

$exportInvoke -eq "Y" -or $exportInvoke -eq "N"

Upvotes: 2

alroc
alroc

Reputation: 28154

Use this to test your input:

!($script:newLog.contains('.')) -and !([String]::IsNullOrEmpty($script:newLog)) -and !([String]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($script:newLog))

Your regular expression (-match ".*" is essentially matching on everything.

Upvotes: 1

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