How can I make this Powershell script better

Question

Hi,

I'm new to Powershell scripting and I have made a simple script to move files from a downloads folder to other folders depending on file extension.
My script essentially does the same thing 4 times.

My question is, how can I write that script to be more effecient.

Thanks

Here it is:

Param (
[String]$Path
)

$ContainsTextFiles = $(Test-Path -Path $Path*.txt -PathType Leaf)
$ContainsMP3Files = $(Test-Path -Path $Path*mp3 -PathType Leaf )
$ContainsJPGFiles = $(Test-Path -Path $Path*.jpg -PathType Leaf)
$ContainsMP4Files = $(Test-Path -Path $Path*mp4 -PathType Leaf )

if ($ContainsTextFiles -eq $True) {
Move-Item -Path $Path*.txt -Destination C:\Users\Ashley\OneDrive\Documents\PowerShell\Project\Documents\
Write-Host "All .txt files have been succesfully moved to .\Documents"
}Else{
Write-Error "No .txt files exist"
}

if ($ContainsMP3Files -eq $True) {
Move-Item -Path $Path*.mp3 -Destination C:\Users\Ashley\OneDrive\Documents\PowerShell\Project\Music\
Write-Host "All .mp3 files have been succesfully moved to .\Music"
}Else{
Write-Error "No .mp3 files exist"
}

if ($ContainsJPGFiles -eq $True) {
Move-Item -Path $Path*.jpg -Destination C:\Users\Ashley\OneDrive\Documents\PowerShell\Project\Pictures\
Write-Host "All .jpg files have been succesfully moved to .\Pictures"
}Else{
Write-Error "No .jpg files exist"
}

if ($ContainsMP4Files -eq $True) {
Move-Item -Path $Path*.mp4 -Destination C:\Users\Ashley\OneDrive\Documents\PowerShell\Project\Videos\
Write-Host "All .mp4 files have been succesfully moved to .\Videos"
}Else{
Write-Error "No .mp4 files exist"
}

Answer 1

I guess that would depend on how you define efficiency! You script, as written, looks fairly efficient if a bit wordy.

I'd start by eliminating the four lines of tests that load the values like "$ContainsTextFiles" and just do the Test-Path in the "if" conditional statements.

To make it easier to add additional file types without adding a separate code block for each one, take the data values from, say a hash.

See if this works. I haven't run it, but I don't think it contains any errors that would prevent it from running:

[CmdletBinding()]  
Param (  
    [ValidateScript({$_ -match "\\$"})]     # must end with a trailing "\"  
    [String]$Path  
)  
  
$Dest = "C:\Users\Ashley\OneDrive\Documents\PowerShell\Project\"  
  
$suffix = [ordered]@{  
    '.txt' = 'Documents'  
    '.mp3' = 'Music'  
    '.jpg' = 'Pictures'  
    '.mp4' = 'Videos'  
}  
$suffix.GetEnumerator()|  
    ForEach-Object{  
        $p = "{0}*{1}" -f $Path, $_.Key  
        if ( (Test-Path -Path $p -PathType Leaf) ) {  
            $d = "{0}{1}\" -f $Dest, $_.Value  
            Move-Item -Path $p -Destination $d  
            Write-Host "All $($_.Value) files have been succesfully moved to $Dest\$($_.Value)"  
        }  
        Else {  
            Write-Error "No $($_.Key) files exist"  
        }  
    }  
 

Answer 2

If you'd rather create a reusable function that wouldn't require modifying the code that does the actual moving of the files every time you want to move a different set of file types (or move the same set to a different subdirectory), you could do it this way:

# Define the function
Function MoveThem{
    [CmdletBinding()]
    Param (
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
        [ValidateScript({$_ -match "\\$"})]     # must end with a trailing "\"
        [String]$Path,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
        [ValidateScript({$_ -match "\\$"})]     # must end with a trailing "\"
        [String]$Dest,

        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
        [System.Collections.Specialized.IOrderedDictionary]$types
    )

    $suffix.GetEnumerator()|
        ForEach-Object{
            $p = "{0}*{1}" -f $Path, $_.Key
            if ( (Test-Path -Path $p -PathType Leaf) ) {
                $d = "{0}{1}\" -f $Dest, $_.Value
                Move-Item -Path $p -Destination $d
                Write-Host "All $($_.Value) files have been succesfully moved to $Dest\$($_.Value)"
            }
            Else {
                Write-Error "No $($_.Key) files exist"
            }
        }

# use the function with a complete set of parameters
$suffix = [ordered]@{
    '.txt' = 'Documents'
    '.mp3' = 'Music'
    '.jpg' = 'Pictures'
    '.mp4' = 'Videos'
}
$Dest = "C:\Users\Ashley\OneDrive\Documents\PowerShell\Project\"

MoveThem -Path .\ -Dest $Dest $suffix