Get-ChildItem

 

Additional Resources for Get-ChildItem

Replicating (and Extending) the DIR Command http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/msh/cmdlets/get-childitem.mspx

 

SYNOPSIS

Gets the items and child items in one or more specified locations.

 

SYNTAX

Get-ChildItem [[-path] <string[]>] [[-filter] <string>] [-include <string[]>] [-exclude <string[]>] [-name] [-recurse] [-force] [<CommonParameters>]

 

Get-ChildItem [-literalPath] <string[]> [[-filter] <string>] [-include <string[]>] [-exclude <string[]>] [-name] [-recurse] [-force] [<CommonParameters>]

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Get-Childitem cmdlet gets the items in one or more specified locations. If the item is a container, it gets the items inside the container, known as child items. You can use the Recurse parameter to get items in all child containers A location can be a file system location, such as a directory, or a location exposed by another provider, such as a registry hive or a certificate store.

 

PARAMETERS

 

-path <string[]>

Specifies a path to one or more locations. Wildcards are permitted. The default location is the current directory (.).

 

Required?	false
Position?	1
Default value	<NOTE: if not specified uses the Current location>
Accept pipeline input?	true (ByValue, ByPropertyName)
Accept wildcard characters?	true

 

-include <string[]>

Retrieves only the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as "*.txt". Wildcards are permitted.

 

The Include parameter is effective only when the command includes the Recurse parameter or the path leads to the contents of a directory, such as C:\Windows\*, where the wildcard character specifies the contents of the C:\

Windows directory.

 

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default value
Accept pipeline input?	false
Accept wildcard characters?	true

 

-exclude <string[]>

Omits the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as "*.txt". Wildcards are permitted.

 

This parameter does not work properly in this cmdlet.

 

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default value
Accept pipeline input?	false
Accept wildcard characters?	true

 

-filter <string>

Specifies a filter in the provider's format or language. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. The syntax of the filter, including the use of wildcards, depends on the provider. Filters are more efficient than other parameters, because the provider applies them when retrieving the objects, rather than having Windows PowerShell filter the objects after they are retrieved.

 

Required?	false
Position?	2
Default value
Accept pipeline input?	false
Accept wildcard characters?	true

 

-name <SwitchParameter>

Retrieves only the names of the items in the locations. If you pipe the output of this command to another command, only the item names are sent.

 

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default value	False
Accept pipeline input?	false
Accept wildcard characters?	false

 

-recurse <SwitchParameter>

Gets the items in the specified locations and in all child items of the locations.

 

Recurse works only when the path points to a container that has child items, such as C:\Windows or C:\Windows\*, and not when it points to items that do not have child items, such as C:\Windows\*.exe.

 

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default value	False
Accept pipeline input?	false
Accept wildcard characters?	false

 

-force <SwitchParameter>

Overrides restrictions that prevent the command from succeeding, just so the changes do not compromise security. For example, Force will override the read-only attribute or create directories to complete a file path, but it will not attempt to change file permissions.

 

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default value	False
Accept pipeline input?	false
Accept wildcard characters?	false

 

-codeSigningCert <SwitchParameter>

Retrieves only the certificates that have code signing authority. This parameter is valid only when using the Windows PowerShell Certificate provider. For more information, type "get-help about_provider" and "get-help about_signing".

 

Required?	false
Position?	named
Default value
Accept pipeline input?	false
Accept wildcard characters?	false

 

-literalPath <string[]>

Specifies a path to one or more locations. Unlike Path, the value of LiteralPath is used exactly as it is typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcards. If the path includes escape characters, enclose it in single quotation marks. Single quotation marks tell Windows PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences

 

Required?	true
Position?	1
Default value
Accept pipeline input?	true (ByPropertyName)
Accept wildcard characters?	false

 

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Verbose, -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, and -OutVariable. For more information, type, "get-help about_commonparameters".

 

INPUT TYPE

String

 

NOTES

 

For more information, type "Get-Help Get-ChildItem -detailed". For technical information, type "Get-Help Get-ChildItem -full".

 

Get-Childitem does not get hidden items by default. To get hidden items, use -Force.

 

When specifying multiple values for a parameter, use commas to separate the values. For example, "<parameter-name> <value1>, <value2>".

 

You can also refer to Get-ChildItem by its built-in aliases, "ls", "dir", and "gci". For more information, see About_Alias.

 

EXAMPLE 1

 

 

This command gets the child items in the current location. If the location is a file system directory, it gets the files and sub-directories in the current directory. If the item does not have child items, this command returns to the command prompt without displaying anything.

 

The default displays lists the mode (attributes), last write time, file size (length), and the name of the file. The valid values for mode are: d (directory), a (archive), r (read-only), h (hidden), and s (system).

 

EXAMPLE 2

 

 

This command retrieves all of the .txt files in the current directory and all of the subdirectories. The dot (".") represents the current directory and the Include parameter specifies the file name extension. The Recurse parameter directs Windows PowerShell to retrieve objects recursively, and indicates that the subject of the command is the specified directory and its contents.

 

EXAMPLE 3

 

 

This command lists the .txt files in the Logs subdirectory, except for those whose names start with the letter A. It uses the wildcard character (*) to indicate the contents of the Logs subdirectory, not the directory container. Because the command does not include the Recurse parameter, Get-Childitem does not include the content of directory automatically; you need to specify it.

 

EXAMPLE 4

 

 

This command retrieves all of the registry keys in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE key in the registry of the local computer.

 

EXAMPLE 5

 

 

This command retrieves only the names of items in the current directory.

 

EXAMPLE 6

 

 

This command gets all of the certificates in the certificate store that have code-signing authority. The command uses the Get-Childitem cmdlet. The path specifies the Cert: drive exposed by the Windows PowerShell certificate provider. The backslash (\) symbol specifies a subdirectory of the certificate store and the dot (.) represents the current directory, which would be the root directory of the certificate store. The Recurse parameter specifies a recursive search and the CodeSigningCertificate parameter gets only certificates with code-signing authority.

 

EXAMPLE 7

 

 

This command retrieves all of the items in the current directory with a ".exe" file name extension. The wildcard character (*) represents the contents of the current directory (not the container). When using the Include parameter without the Recurse parameter, the path must point to contents, not a container.

 

RELATED LINKS

Get-Item

Get-Alias

Get-Location

Get-Process

about_namespace