Powershell: Fix My Loop Logic

Question

I am trying to get the logic straightened out for a loop that I need to continue to prompt a user to enter a valid UNC path. I have it set to test the path and output to the console that the path is invalid. But, after that, it moves back to my prompt for choice. I want it to instead, ask the user to enter another valid path before moving on to the next step. Here is my loop:

do{
    Write-Host ""                    
    $pathPrompt  = Write-Host "Please enter path to file/folder:" -ForegroundColor Cyan;
    $path        = Read-Host; 
    $test        = Test-Path $path

    if($test -eq $false){
        Write-Host "ERROR! Invalid Path!" -ForegroundColor Red
    }
}until($test -eq $true){
    Write-Host ""
    Write-Host "Getting ACL on"$path -ForegroundColor Green
    Get-NTFSAccess -Path $path
}

What am I missing or not doing right here?

What you have written will loop until it gets a valid path, and then get the NTFS Access info on the path, at which point it will exit. If you want it to start over and ask for a new path, you should consider the possibility of wrapping your code in a loop. I should note that the code here strongly suggests that this is a homework problem, and it really is considered bad form to ask others to do your homework for you. — Jeff Zeitlin
– Jeff Zeitlin, Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 14:20
If is not homework, I assure you. I'm working on a tool that can get NTFS perms and then apply new or remove old perms, by choice. — T4RH33L
– T4RH33L, Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 14:34
You do not need to put $test in the condition. Directly Use (Test-path $path) then do the operation else not — Ranadip Dutta
– Ranadip Dutta, Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 14:38
@JeffZeitlin Here is the SO policy on homework questions, which are allowed. Questions asking for homework help must include a summary of the work you've done so far to solve the problem, and a description of the difficulty you are having solving it. Which if this was homework, does meet those guidelines. — BenH
– BenH, Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 14:42
@RanadipDutta He needs to save the result as he is doing more than one test on it. The user feedback in the loop requires that he save the result. — Matt
– Matt, Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 15:45

BenH · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-07 16:18:14Z

1

Sounds like you want to reuse your validation test. You could put it in a function for reuse:

Function Get-ValidPath {
    do {
        Write-Host "`r`nPlease enter path to file/folder:" -ForegroundColor Cyan
        $path = Read-Host
        $test = Test-Path $path

        if ($test -eq $false) {
            Write-Host "ERROR! Invalid Path!" -ForegroundColor Red
        }
    } until ($test -eq $true)
    $path
}
$validatedpath1 = Get-ValidPath
Write-Host "`r`nGetting ACL on $validatedpath1" -ForegroundColor Green
Get-NTFSAccess -Path $validatedpath1
$validatedpath2 = Get-ValidPath

edited Apr 7, 2017 at 16:18

answered Apr 7, 2017 at 14:31

BenH

10.1k1 gold badge26 silver badges38 bronze badges

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

5 Comments

T4RH33L Over a year ago

I am still getting the same results. When I enter an invalid path, I get the error message and it returns to my prompt for choice, not the prompt to enter a path.

BenH Over a year ago

@T4RH33L So when it fails you don't want it to write "Please enter path.." just the "ERROR..."? Answer updated to only write the first time.

T4RH33L Over a year ago

When it fails, I want it to say "ERROR! Invalid Path!" and then re-prompt the user to "Please enter path to file/folder:" until it gets a valid path.

BenH Over a year ago

@T4RH33L I don't know what you are asking for then, because that's exactly what this does...

T4RH33L Over a year ago

I'm so sorry. I copied your function to one switch and tested it by selecting a switch that I didn't update. You are correct, your function worked perfectly. Thank you.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Powershell: Fix My Loop Logic

1 Answer 1

5 Comments

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

5 Comments

Related