Is there a way to loop "Test-path" with multiple different paths (PowerShell)-CodePudding

$applicationArray = $filezilla = "C:\Program Files\FileZilla FTP Client\filezilla.exe", $notepad = "C:\Program Files\Notepad  \notepad  .exe", $cisco = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client\vpnui.exe", $adobe = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe"

foreach ($application in $applicationArray)
    {
        Test-path

     if (Test-path) 
     {
         Write-Host "Folder Exists"
       }
     else
     {
         Write-Host "Folder Does Not Exist"
     }
   }

I am trying to write a script that will check if the above programs are installed by useing the "Test-path" command. when I run them in individual "if" statements they all work but I was looking to loop it so I could compress the script to be as eficient as possible. but when I try to run the above I get the below error:

At C:\Users\Nicholas.McKinney\OneDrive - Brandmuscle\Documents\Scripts\Laptop_Setups.ps1:1 char:34
  ... filezilla = "C:\Program Files\FileZilla FTP Client\filezilla.exe", $n ...
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The assignment expression is not valid. The input to an assignment operator must be an object that is able to accept assignments, such as a variable or a property.
At C:\Users\Nicholas.McKinney\OneDrive - Brandmuscle\Documents\Scripts\Laptop_Setups.ps1:1 char:100
  ... a.exe", $notepad = "C:\Program Files\Notepad  \notepad  .exe", $cisco ...
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The assignment expression is not valid. The input to an assignment operator must be an object that is able to accept assignments, such as a variable or a property.
At C:\Users\Nicholas.McKinney\OneDrive - Brandmuscle\Documents\Scripts\Laptop_Setups.ps1:1 char:153
  ... ", $cisco = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mob ...
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The assignment expression is not valid. The input to an assignment operator must be an object that is able to accept assignments, such as a variable or a property.
      CategoryInfo          : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
      FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvalidLeftHandSide

CodePudding user response：

Looks like you are trying to create a hashtable, but the syntax isn't quite right. Let's try it like so,

$apps = @{
  filezilla = "C:\Program Files\FileZilla FTP Client\filezilla.exe"
  notepad = "C:\Program Files\Notepad  \notepad  .exe"
  cisco = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client\vpnui.exe"
  adobe = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe"
}

To use hashtable values, loop through its keys and access each item by key value like so,

foreach($k in $apps.keys) {
  "Testing path for {0} -> {1}: {2}" -f $k, $apps[$k], $(test-path $apps[$k])
}
# output

Testing path for adobe -> C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe: False
Testing path for notepad -> C:\Program Files\Notepad  \notepad  .exe: True
Testing path for cisco -> C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client\vpnui.exe: False
Testing path for filezilla -> C:\Program Files\FileZilla FTP Client\filezilla.exe: False

CodePudding user response：

This won't work:

$applicationArray = $filezilla = "C:\Program Files\FileZilla FTP Client\filezilla.exe", $notepad = "C:\Program Files\Notepad  \notepad  .exe", $cisco = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client\vpnui.exe", $adobe = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe"

You cam do an array of filepaths to verify, e.g.:

$paths = @(
   "C:\Program Files\FileZilla FTP Client\filezilla.exe",
   "C:\Program Files\Notepad  \notepad  .exe"
)

Once you did you can loop through the array and run test-path foreach element, e.g.:

foreach ($path in $paths){
   If (Test-path -path $path){
      write-host "Folder Exists"
   }
   Else {
      Write-Host "Folder Does Not Exist"
   }
}

See: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_arrays?view=powershell-7.2

CodePudding user response：

You could use a hashtable to for easier readability and iterate through each one testing the paths.

@{
    filezilla = "C:\Program Files\FileZilla FTP Client\filezilla.exe"
    notepad   = "C:\Program Files\Notepad  \notepad  .exe"
    cisco     = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client\vpnui.exe"
    adobe     = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe"
}.GetEnumerator() | % {
    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $_.Value) {
        '{0,-10} - Exists.' -f $_.Key
    }
    else {
        '{0,-10} - Not Found.' -f $_.Key
    }
}

# Results
adobe      - Not Found.
notepad    - Not Found.
cisco      - Exists.
filezilla  - Not Found.

I liked vonPryz approach, so I updated mine to mimic his/hers. It's essentially the same with just incorporating the conditional statement into the string format value.

'{0,-10} - {1}' -f $_.Key, $(
    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $_.Value) { 'Exists' } else { 'Not Found' }
)