Remove-Item : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null
Good Afternoon
I have created the following powershell
function script{ param ( [string]$path = {"C:\PowerShellTest\Med Rec\1\", "C:\PowerShellTest\Med Rec\2\", "C:\PowerShellTest\Med Rec\3\"} ) }
Get-ChildItem $path -Recurse | Select-Object Directory,Name,CreationTime | Export-Csv "C:\PowerShellTest\Med Rec\text.csv" -Force -NoTypeInformation
Remove-Item -Recurse -Path $path when I run it I receive the following error
Remove-Item : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\PowerShellTest\New folder\Content Deleted Daily at 1AM.ps1:9 char:28
+ Remove-Item -Recurse -Path $path
+ ~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Item], ParameterBindingValidationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.RemoveItemCommandI'm unable to figure out why its not working.
2 Answers
Your $path variable is outside of the scope of where Remove-Item is called.
Have a look at this example:
function script{ $path = "hello"; echo $path;
}
echo $path;When echo $path is called on the last line, nothing is outputted because there has been no value placed in $path. However if I call script then hello is outputted, but as soon as that script function is done running the $path variable inside of the function will not be accessible any more.
To fix, define your $path variable where the Remove-Item has access to it, for example before the script function.
To see more on scope in Powershell here is Microsoft's full documentation.
I fixed it up by just creating an alias (I hope its the correct term).
$path = "C:\PowerShellTest\MedRec\1\", "C:\PowerShellTest\MedRec\2\", "C:\PowerShellTest\MedRec\3\"
Get-ChildItem $path -Recurse | Select-Object Name,CreationTime | Export-Csv "C:\PowerShellTest\MedRec\text.csv" -Force -NoTypeInformation
Get-ChildItem $path -Recurse | Remove-Item -Recurse -Force
