How to Return Value to use in another function powershell

Question

In the below code I am having trouble understanding why when I return FileArray why my other function is returning it as being empty?

I am looking to use copyfiles with FileArray. Am I just supposed to put all the steps into one huge function?

function Import-Excel
{
  param (
    [string]$FileName,
    [string]$WorksheetName,
    [bool]$DisplayProgress = $true
  )

  if ($FileName -eq "") {
    throw "Please provide path to the Excel file"
    Exit
  }

  if (-not (Test-Path $FileName)) {
    throw "Path '$FileName' does not exist."
    exit
  }

  $FileName = Resolve-Path $FileName
  $excel = New-Object -com "Excel.Application"
  $excel.Visible = $false
  $workbook = $excel.workbooks.open($FileName)

  if (-not $WorksheetName) {
    Write-Warning "Defaulting to the first worksheet in workbook."
    $sheet = $workbook.ActiveSheet
  } else {
    $sheet = $workbook.Sheets.Item($WorksheetName)
  }

  if (-not $sheet)
  {
    throw "Unable to open worksheet $WorksheetName"
    exit
  }

  $sheetName = $sheet.Name
  $columns = $sheet.UsedRange.Columns.Count
  $lines = $sheet.UsedRange.Rows.Count

  Write-Warning "Worksheet $sheetName contains $columns columns and $lines lines of data"

  $fields = @()

  for ($column = 1; $column -le $columns; $column ++) {
    $fieldName = $sheet.Cells.Item.Invoke(1, $column).Value2
    if ($fieldName -eq $null) {
      $fieldName = "Column" + $column.ToString()
    }
    $fields += $fieldName
  }

  $line = 2


  for ($line = 2; $line -le $lines; $line ++) {
    $values = New-Object object[] $columns
    for ($column = 1; $column -le $columns; $column++) {
      $values[$column - 1] = $sheet.Cells.Item.Invoke($line, $column).Value2
    }  

    $row = New-Object psobject
    $fields | foreach-object -begin {$i = 0} -process {
      $row | Add-Member -MemberType noteproperty -Name $fields[$i] -Value $values[$i]; $i++
    }
    $row
    $percents = [math]::round((($line/$lines) * 100), 0)
    if ($DisplayProgress) {
      Write-Progress -Activity:"Importing from Excel file $FileName" -Status:"Imported $line of total $lines lines ($percents%)" -PercentComplete:$percents
    }
  }
  $workbook.Close()
  $excel.Quit()
}

function FindFiles {

    param(
        [string]$fiestore
    )

    $length = $filestore.Length
    $GuidArray = @()

    for($line=0;$line -le $filestore.Count;$line++){

            $check = $filestore[$line]
            $length2 = $check.Length
            echo $check

            $fileGuid = $check | ForEach-Object{$_.FileGuid}





            $GuidArray = $GuidArray + $fileGuid    
    }

    write-host "-------------------------------------------------------------" -ForegroundColor Yellow

    $filepath = Read-Host " Please Enter File Path to Search"

    for ($counter=0;$counter -lt $GuidArray.Count;$counter++){
        $fileArray = @()
        $guidcheck = $GuidArray[$counter]
        echo $guidcheck
        $file = Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Force $filePath -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { ($_.PSIsContainer -eq $false) -and  ( $_.Name -like "*$guidcheck*") } | Select-Object Directory,Name| Format-Table -AutoSize 
        $fileArray += $file
    }
    echo $fileArray

    return $fileArray


}

function CopyFiles {

    param(
        [string]$filearray
    )
    echo $fileArray
    for($counter = 0;$counter -lt $filearrray.Count;$counter++){
        echo $filearray[$counter]
        #Copy-Item 
    }

}

function execute {
    $filestore = Import-Excel 'C:\594 Sample of Filestore.xlsx'
    $fileArray = @()
    FindFiles($filestore)
    echo $fileArray
    CopyFiles($fileArray)
}

Mark Wragg · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-24 18:30:44Z

1

$fileArray doesn't become available outside of the Function by doing Return, but you could make it accessible outside of the function by defining it with a Global scope (although this is not best practice): Return $Global:fileArray.

Instead, it becomes the value of the Function call itself, so in Execute you could do:

$filestore = Import-Excel 'C:\594 Sample of Filestore.xlsx'
$fileArray = @(FindFiles($filestore))
echo $fileArray
CopyFiles($fileArray)

However I think you also need to remove any echo statements from within the FindFiles function or they may be returned as well.

Note: This is untested code.

answered Apr 24, 2017 at 18:30

Mark Wragg

23.6k7 gold badges48 silver badges77 bronze badges

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

3 Comments

GoldenWest Over a year ago

ahh ok so just call the function inside a variable and the variable value will become the function result. Weird!

Mark Wragg Over a year ago

Basically any command that outputs to standard out (e.g write-output or just writing a string) will become the output of the Function.

GoldenWest Over a year ago

I tried this but havent been able to get an output. here is a link to my other thread if you are interested .stackoverflow.com/questions/43597297/…

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to Return Value to use in another function powershell

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related