Need to output command results to file

Question

Is there an easy way for me to pump the output of a series of file deletions using foreach?

Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Temp\Testing*\Beep* -Include * | foreach {$_.Delete()}

I know foreach doesn't support pipelining but I'm trying to keep this simple and am not well versed with the ForEach-Object command..

Thanks,

J

Answer 1

You can't reference .Fullname in the catch because "$ underscore" will be the error object.

Please use the Code Sample icon when posting code. The "101010" icon.

Try it like this. I highly recommend using -whatif on the Remove-Item when you are testing.

$Folders = Get-ChildItem 'C:\Users\*\AppData\Roaming\Temp*' -Recurse
""
"Folders contains {0} entries." -f $Folders.count 
""
$csv = ForEach ($File in $folders) {
    Try {
        Remove-Item $File.FullName -ErrorAction Stop -whatif 
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            Path = $File.FullName
            Action = "Removed"
            Error = ""
            }
        }
    Catch {
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            Path = $File.FullName
            Action = "NotRemoved"
            Error = $_ 
        }
    }
} 

$csv | Export-Csv C:\Temp\RR_Cleanup_Output.csv -NoTypeInformation

Answer 2

A "ForEach" is a shortcut for the "ForEach-Object" cmdlet -- provided it's followed immediately by a block of code. Pipelining is usable.

On the other hand, a "ForEach" followed immediately by an expression is parsed as a PowerShell keyword. There is no pipeline.

This code should get you a report, and it will act in a predictable fashion if you encounter a file you can't remove. Also, the Get-ChildItem cmdlet will retrieve only files. The example you posted will also return directory names (but not the contents of the directory:

Get-ChildItem C:\Temp\Testing*\Beep* -Include * -File | 
    ForEach-Object {
        $fn = $_.FullName
        Try {
            Remove-Item $_.FullName -ErrorAction Stop
            [PSCustomObject]@{
                Path   = $_.FullName
                Action = "Removed"
                Error  = ""
            }
        }
        Catch {
            [PSCustomObject]@{
                Path   = $fn
                Action = "NotRemoved"
                Error  = $_
            }
        }
    } | Export-Csv SomeFilePath -NoTypeInformation

Answer 3

Hi

The foreach seem ok, did you tried without the | foreach {$_.Delete()} to see if the commandlet Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Temp\Testing*\Beep* -Include * return what you need ?

I tell that as the asterix in your path need a -Recurse to make it work, and the last asterix need a * if it's for the directory's content you search for.

Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Temp\Testing*\Beep* -Include * -Recurse

Thanks

Philippe

Answer 4

Hi Philippe,

Yep, the command works/does what I want it to, I don't need the recurse as I'm not doing subdirectories AFAIK.. All I need is to get output from the command (all the files that were deleted) and dump it to a file.

J

Answer 5

Thanks Rich, that did it, appreciate your help.

J