Variable concatenation in wrong order

Question

I have the following:

function createFolder($folderName, $curPath)
{
    $dest = $curPath + $folderName
    write-host "Path is : " + $dest
    # code to mess around with files etc
}

When I run this it gives me the following output:

Path is : + Test_Folder C:\Users\Me

Is there something I'm missing with the + operator, or a join/concat method that is meant for this kind of function? What is the correct way to create/concat/manipulate paths in PowerShell (I've just started using this to automate some cleanup tasks on my desktop).

EDIT: In case it makes a difference, this is what I see when I run the version command:

PS C:\Users\Me> version
BladeLogic Network Shell 8.2.01.273 (Release) [May 12 2012 21:56:02]
Copyright (C) 1996-2012 BladeLogic Inc.

Also, I'm on a work computer with no administrative privileges.

I tried:

$currentPath = "C:\Users\n0223270\Downloads"
$test = "test"
createFolder($test, $currentPath)

function createFolder($folderName, $curPath)
{
    $dest = join-path -path $curPath -childpath $folderName
    Write-Host $dest   
}

This was the following error:

Join-Path : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At line:4 char:28
+     $dest = join-path -path <<<<  $curPath -childpath $folderName
+ CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Join-Path], ParameterBindingValidationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.JoinPathCommand

Try using the Join-Path cmdlet instead of string concatenation. — EBGreen
– EBGreen, Commented Jul 6, 2015 at 14:35
What's $curPath? What's $folderName? + isn't string concat, you can just put variables in a string or use -f to format variables into a string (which is usually better). — Etan Reisner
– Etan Reisner, Commented Jul 6, 2015 at 14:37
$curPath is the current working directory, so in the above example: $curPath = "C:\Users\Me" and $folderName is the name of a folder to be created if it doesn't exist and used as the destination for a copy and paste job later on in the function, in the above: $folderName = "Test_Folder" — jbailie1991
– jbailie1991, Commented Jul 6, 2015 at 14:41
@EBGreen I tried the Join-Path cmdlet, updated question with the results — jbailie1991
– jbailie1991, Commented Jul 6, 2015 at 14:44
You're using parens and commas to call a powerShell function. Try createFolder $test $currentPath — Mike Shepard
– Mike Shepard, Commented Jul 6, 2015 at 14:48

Bacon Bits · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-06 17:46:49Z

5

createFolder($test, $currentPath)

This isn't how you call a Powershell function. This is passing the first parameter as an array of two strings. The second parameter would be null because it's not specified and there's no default.

Try:

createFolder $test $currentPath

edited Jul 6, 2015 at 17:46

answered Jul 6, 2015 at 14:48

Bacon Bits

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2 Comments

jbailie1991 Over a year ago

Ok that worked just fine, thanks. Still trying to migrate from a Java background to powershell scripting

Bacon Bits Over a year ago

@jbailie1991 It's definitely non-obvious if you haven't encountered it before because the language is very C-like. IMX, the more you use it the more you'll use named parameters with the param() construct instead of the C-like function definition. See the Get-Help about_Functions* articles.

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