PowerShell Copy-Item Method Fails - Brackets in Filename

Question

I am trying to use PowerShell (v.1) to copy over only files that match a pattern. The file naming convention is:

Daily_Reviews[0001-0871].journal
Daily_Reviews[1002-9887].journal
[...]

When I run it, the method "Copy-Item" complains:

Dynamic parameters for cmdlet cannot be retrieved. The specified wildcard pattern is not valid: Daily_Reviews[0001-0871].journal
+ Copy-Item <<<< $sourcefile $destination

The error is due to the "[" and "]" in the file names. When I remove the left and right brackets, it works as expected. But looks like PowerShell 1 doesn't have the -LiteralPath flag so is there another way to get Copy-Item to work in PowerShell 1 with file names that contain brackets?

$source = "C:\Users\Tom\"
$destination ="C:\Users\Tom\Processed\"

if(-not(Test-Path $destination)){mkdir $destination | out-null}


ForEach ($sourcefile In $(Get-ChildItem $source | Where-Object { $_.Name -match "Daily_Reviews\[\d\d\d\d-\d\d\d\d\].journal" }))
{

  Copy-Item $sourcefile $destination
 }

Slinky · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-10 16:45:48Z

7

Well, after researching this more I found a workaround:

$src = [Management.Automation.WildcardPattern]::Escape($sourcefile)
Copy-Item  $src $destination

answered Apr 10, 2013 at 16:45

Slinky

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1 Comment

lvr123 Over a year ago

If the brackets are in the directory name, better use this : $src = [Management.Automation.WildcardPattern]::Escape($sourcefile.FullName)

alroc · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-10 16:40:47Z

2

$_ references the currently-referenced argument; you can't use it the way that you are here because that's outside the pipeline.

$source = "C:\Users\Tom\"
$destination ="C:\Users\Tom\Processed\"

if(-not(Test-Path $destination)){mkdir $destination | out-null}


ForEach ($sourcefile In $(Get-ChildItem $source | Where-Object { $_.Name -match "Daily_Reviews\[\d\d\d\d-\d\d\d\d\].journal" }))
{

  Copy-Item -literalpath $sourcefile $destination
 }

edited Apr 10, 2013 at 16:40

answered Apr 10, 2013 at 16:06

alroc

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4 Comments

Slinky Over a year ago

Thanks. I made the change that you suggested and I get the same exact complaints from Copy-Item...Weird stuff. I wonder if it's the brackets in the filenames? –

Slinky Over a year ago

It's because of the "[" and "]" in the file names. When I remove the left and right brackets, it works as expected. Needs to be able to parse files with brackets though

alroc Over a year ago

The square brackets require that you use -literalpath (always wondered when I'd need that) when calling copy-item. I've amended my code.

Ansgar Wiechers Over a year ago

@alroc Without -LiteralPath globbing takes place, so you need the option when a literal file or folder name contains wildcard characters.

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