In normal circumstances, because we want PowerShell to work even though sometimes we have errors. That is the reason why PowerShell errors in general are what we call non-terminating errors.
Clear-Host
$items = @()
# Generate more items
$items += for ($i = 0; $i -le 3; $i++) {
"$($env:TEMP)\$(Get-Process -Id $pid)-$($i).txt"
}
# Let's generate some errors
$items | ForEach-Object {
Get-Item -Path $_
}
Result:
Get-Item : Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (powershell)-0.txt' because it does not exist.
At line:2 char:5
+ Get-Item -Path $_
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Users\Sander...wershell)-0.txt:String) [Get-Item], ItemNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetItemCommand
Get-Item : Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (powershell)-1.txt' because it does not exist.
At line:2 char:5
+ Get-Item -Path $_
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Users\Sander...wershell)-1.txt:String) [Get-Item], ItemNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetItemCommand
Get-Item : Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (powershell)-2.txt' because it does not exist.
At line:2 char:5
+ Get-Item -Path $_
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Users\Sander...wershell)-2.txt:String) [Get-Item], ItemNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetItemCommand
Get-Item : Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (powershell)-3.txt' because it does not exist.
At line:2 char:5
+ Get-Item -Path $_
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Users\Sander...wershell)-3.txt:String) [Get-Item], ItemNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetItemCommand
Although we got a lot of errors, PowerShell still executes the script
Error Actions
There are six error actions in PowerShell
- Stop
- Continue
- SilentlyContinue
- Ignore
- Inquire
- Suspend (Only used for Windows PowerShell Workflow. Cannot be used with advanced functions)
Stop
Let’s run the same script as before but now with an error action called Stop.
Clear-Host
$items = @()
# Generate more items
$items += for ($i = 0; $i -le 3; $i++) {
"$($env:TEMP)\$(Get-Process -Id $pid)-$($i).txt"
}
# Let's generate some errors
$items | ForEach-Object {
Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction Stop
}
Result:
Get-Item : Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (powershell)-0.txt' because it does not exist.
At line:2 char:5
+ Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction Stop
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Users\Sander...wershell)-0.txt:String) [Get-Item], ItemNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetItemCommand
Although in the previous example we could loop through the items, this time because we set an error action, the loop stops at the first error.
Continue
This is the default error action. The error will still be displayed but the script will continue.
Clear-Host
$items = @()
# Generate more items
$items += for ($i = 0; $i -le 3; $i++) {
"$($env:TEMP)\$(Get-Process -Id $pid)-$($i).txt"
}
# Let's generate some errors
$items | ForEach-Object {
Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction Continue
}
Result:
Get-Item:
Line |
2 | Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction Continue
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (pwsh)-0.txt' because it does not exist.
Get-Item:
Line |
2 | Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction Continue
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (pwsh)-1.txt' because it does not exist.
Get-Item:
Line |
2 | Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction Continue
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (pwsh)-2.txt' because it does not exist.
Get-Item:
Line |
2 | Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction Continue
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (pwsh)-3.txt' because it does not exist.
SilentlyContinue
With SilentlyCOntinue the error message will not be displayed and the script executes the pipeline commands.
Clear-Host
$items = @()
# Generate more items
$items += for ($i = 0; $i -le 3; $i++) {
"$($env:TEMP)\$(Get-Process -Id $pid)-$($i).txt"
}
# Let's generate some errors
$items | ForEach-Object {
Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}
$error[0]
No error should be displayed, but the error is still saved in the $Error variable.
Result:
Get-Item:
Line |
2 | Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (pwsh)-3.txt' because it does not exist.
Ignore
The Ignore action is the same as the Silentlycontinue except the error output is not stored into $Error variable.
Clear-Host
$items = @()
# Generate more items
$items += for ($i = 0; $i -le 3; $i++) {
"$($env:TEMP)\$(Get-Process -Id $pid)-$($i).txt"
}
# Let's generate some errors
$items | ForEach-Object {
Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction Ignore
}
$error[0]
The result should be that the script returns nothing at all.
Inquire
With Inquire PowerShell helps when an error occurred due to cmdlet. It will give the option to the user with choices and prompt for appropriate action.
Clear-Host
$items = @()
# Generate more items
$items += for ($i = 0; $i -le 3; $i++) {
"$($env:TEMP)\$(Get-Process -Id $pid)-$($i).txt"
}
# Let's generate some errors
$items | ForEach-Object {
Get-Item -Path $_ -ErrorAction Inquire
}
Result:
Confirm
Cannot find path 'C:\Users\Sander\AppData\Local\Temp\System.Diagnostics.Process (pwsh)-0.txt' because it does not exist.
[Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [H] Halt Command [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"):