Positional parameter cannot be found error in powershell

Question

I am trying to append the date to a file name in my Powershell script but keep getting the following error (my code is below the error). Any help/direction would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Set-Content : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts 

argument '$null'.
At P:\CoverageVerifier\CombineTextFiles.ps1:8 char:50
+ ... thTrailer | Set-Content "${path}\\" + ${$dateStr} + "_CoverageVerifi ...
+                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [Set-Content], ParameterBindingException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.SetContentCommand

Here is my powershell code:

$path = "\\xx\\apps\\CoverageVerifier\\"
$pathHeader = "\\xx\\apps\\CoverageVerifier\\Header.txt"
$pathData = "\\xx\\apps\\CoverageVerifier\\Data.txt"
$pathTrailer = "\\xx\\apps\\CoverageVerifier\\Trailer.txt"
$date = Get-Date
$dateStr = $date.ToString("yyyyMMdd")
#Write-Output $dateStr
Get-Content $pathHeader,$pathData,$pathTrailer | Set-Content "${path}\\cvgver." + ${dateStr} + ".0101"

Yes they are UNC paths to a specific server on the network. Sorry for my ignorance. Thanks. — Melinda
– Melinda, Commented Jan 14, 2019 at 21:05

Theo · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-14 21:17:04Z

The first positional parameter of the Set-Content cmdlet is the -Path parameter. Because of the way you define the paths for the files, it is bound to have problems with that.

As I understand, these are UNC paths, so try this instead:

# for LOCAL paths
# Set the driveletter to the actual drive you are using. For demo I'm using 'X:\'
# $path        = 'X:\apps\CoverageVerifier'
# for UNC paths
# change 'servername' to your actual servers name
$path        = '\\servername\apps\CoverageVerifier'

$pathHeader  = Join-Path -Path $path -ChildPath 'Header.txt'
$pathData    = Join-Path -Path $path -ChildPath 'Data.txt'
$pathTrailer = Join-Path -Path $path -ChildPath 'Trailer.txt'
$dateStr     = (Get-Date).ToString("yyyyMMdd")
$outFile     = Join-Path -Path $path -ChildPath ($dateStr + "_TestVerifier.txt")

Get-Content $pathHeader, $pathData, $pathTrailer | Set-Content $outFile

As you can see, I'm using the Join-Path cmdlet a lot to make sure my file paths get concatenated correctly.

score 2 · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-14 21:25:37Z

2

Why don't you use the format operator and Join-Path?
Edit even with only one format

$path =        "\\xx\apps\CoverageVerifier"
$pathHeader =  Join-Path $path "Header.txt"
$pathData =    Join-Path $path "Data.txt"
$pathTrailer = Join-Path $path "Trailer.txt"

Get-Content $pathHeader,$pathData,$pathTrailer | 
  Set-Content (Join-Path $path ("{0:yyyyMMdd}_TestVerifier.txt" -f (Get-Date))

edited Jan 14, 2019 at 21:25

answered Jan 14, 2019 at 21:11

user6811411

1 Comment

Melinda Over a year ago

Thanks for your time and help too. This worked for me as well.

Leon Evans · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-14 21:08:09Z

0

you use set-content to modify the content of a file, not the filename:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/set-content?view=powershell-6

answered Jan 14, 2019 at 21:08

Leon Evans

1561 silver badge6 bronze badges

2 Comments

Melinda Over a year ago

Thanks Leon. Do you know how to modify the file name?

Leon Evans Over a year ago

Rename-Item:learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/…

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