Command Search

 

SHORT DESCRIPTION

How the Windows PowerShell locates commands

 

LONG DESCRIPTION

When you enter a command at the command prompt, PowerShell searches for the command according to specific rules. However, the manner in which that search is conducted depends on whether or not you specify a fully qualified path name for the command. If you do supply the full path, PowerShell uses the version of the command at that location, whether or not a command with the same name exists at another location.

 

For example, the following command runs the script in the finddocs.ps1 file, located in the c:\techdocs directory:

 

 

If PowerShell cannot find the finddocs.ps1 file in the specified path, no scripts are run, and a message is returned indicating that the command cannot be found, even if the file exists in another location.

 

When you enter a command without specifying the fully qualified path name, PowerShell searches for the command in the following order, until it finds a match:

 

1.       Currently defined aliases

2.       Currently defined functions

3.       Commands located in any directories specified in the path environment variable

 

In addition to referring to an alias or function, a command name can refer to a Cmdlet, an .ps1 script file, or an executable file with the extension .bat, .cmd, .com, or .exe. Windows Script Host (WSH) files with a .vbs, .js, .wsh, or .wsf extension rely on the WSH engine, either wscript.exe or cscript.exe, to run. Therefore, you can also run these script file types in the PowerShell environment.

 

SEE ALSO

For information about fully qualified path names, enter the following command at the PowerShell command prompt:

 

 

For information about aliases, enter the following command:

 

 

For information about functions, enter the following command:

 

 

For information about environment variables, enter the following command: