CODEWITHSUNDEEP
powershell
Garrett
Garrett

Reputation: 649

Using param aliases in PowerShell

I've created a renaming script that includes aliases for variables that I would like to define as parameters when I call the script. If I define the variables in the script the traditional way ($variable = 'defined') the script renames the appropriate file correctly. I think I am misunderstanding the param portion.

Here's the script:

#retrieve the name from the text file
$name = Get-Content "C:\name.txt"

#identify the .jpg that needs to be renamed based on naming (Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd HH-mm-ss")
$fileName = Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd"

param (
    
[Parameter(<#mandatory=$true#>)]
[alias("v")]
[string] $variant,
[Parameter(<#mandatory=$true#>)]
[alias("pc")]
[string] $processClass
)

#identify new name set up and identify the file to address (oldname) then rename it
$newname  = "D:\Output\$name" + "." + $variant + ".PC_" + $processClass + ".jpg"
$oldName = gci "D:\Output\" -Filter *.jpg | Where-Object {$_.name -like "*$fileName*"}
    rename-item $oldName.FullName $newname -Force

Then I will call the script with the parameters applied like this:

powershell.exe -File C:\Rename.ps1  -v "XXX" -pc "YYY"

However at this point, the $oldName file is only partially renamed, missing the $variant and $processClass portion and I get a PowerShell error:

param : The term 'param' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.

It seems im not properly defining the parameters or I have just misunderstood how this part works, I've not tried this before.

Thanks for any suggestions

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1619

Answers (1)

Lee_Dailey
Lee_Dailey

Reputation: 7479

your problem is the placement of code before the Param() block. [grin] simply move all that pre-Param() code to after the Param() block and things will work.

you may also want to consider adding [CmdletBinding()] just before the Param() to make it a full "advanced function".

Upvotes: 4

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