Putting Powershell variable in double quotes shows Object type instead of value

Question

I see this problem in several area, but here is an example

I read an xml document like this and print out a value

[xml]$pom = get-content -path pom.xml
PS C:\> $pom.project.artifactId
nexus-peter-test-service

However, if I put the value in double quotes, I get this

"$pom.project.artifactId"
System.Xml.XmlDocument.project.artifactId

I need the value in double quotes because it's part of a long string. In my case, a url. So I'm using it like this:

"/$pom.project.artifactId/"

Why does Powershell change the meaning of the variable when in it's double quotes? And how can I fix this?

Did you try to use a subexpression? "$($pom.project.artifactId)" — Olaf
– Olaf, Commented Jul 30, 2021 at 20:43
PowerShell starts to do variable expansion inside strings from left to right. If it expanded successfully $pom it will assume the rest of it is a string — Olaf
– Olaf, Commented Jul 30, 2021 at 20:45

Mark Reed · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-30 20:45:40Z

4

The problem is that the interpolation stops at the period. It interpolates "$pom" - which stringifies as the class name - followed by the literal string ".project.artifactId".

To interpolate anything more complex than a simple variable name, you need to wrap $(...) around the expression:

"$($pom.project.artifactId)"

answered Jul 30, 2021 at 20:45

Mark Reed

96k17 gold badges149 silver badges189 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Putting Powershell variable in double quotes shows Object type instead of value

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related