Using filename as email subject

PowerShell Help
1

I have pieced this script together that unpacks rar files and sends an email when it has completed. I have been trying to understand how to parse the file name and use it as the subject line but come up short every time. I am very new to Powershell and would appreciate any help in understanding how to achieve this, here is the script.

##Unrar files in selected folder
 
cls
$parent = "\\NASBOX\Incoming\"
$unrarred = "\\NASBOX\unrared\"
$files = @()
$unrarpath = "C:\Users\NASbox\Documents\UnRAR.exe"
 
# Check unrar.exe default path.
if ((Test-Path -Path $unrarpath) -ne $true){
write-host "Unrar.exe not present in default unrar folder. Please verify"
break
}
 
# Recurse trough all folders, filter on .rar
Gci $parent -Recurse -Filter "*.rar" | % {
$files = $files + $_.FullName
}
 
# Start extract, using call parameter "&"
foreach ($f in $files) {
& "$unrarpath" x -y $f $unrarred
 
# In case of  - delete rar parent folder
$folder = Split-Path -Path $f -Parent
if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq "0"){
Remove-item -Path $folder -Recurse

$email = 'xxxxxx@gmail.com'
$SMTPServer = 'smtp.gmail.com'
$SMTPPort = '587'
$Password = 'xxxxxxxxxxx'
$subject = 'Have just Unpacked a file'
$data = 'a download was unpacked '	
$smtp = New-Object System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient($SMTPServer, $SMTPPort);
$smtp.EnableSSL = $true
$smtp.Credentials = New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential($email, $Password);
$smtp.Send($email, $subject, $data);


}
}
2

Hi Shane, have you tried simply including $_.FullName in the subject line? Example:

$subject = "Have just Unpacked a file $($_.FullName)"

Be sure to replace the outside single quotes with double quotes, as single quotes will interpret the text literally instead of as a variable. Also, the $($…) syntax is required because you’re referencing a property of the object inside a string. Just calling $.FullName without the extra $() will not work inside a string. You could also encase the file name in quotes like '$($.FullName)', which will still work because the outside quotes are double quotes.

3

Hi Shane,

The easy way to fix this, is to change the code where you enumerate the files, to get the full file objects, instead of just the path to the file.

Replace this:

# Recurse trough all folders, filter on .rar
Gci $parent -Recurse -Filter "*.rar" | % {
$files = $files + $_.FullName
}

With this:

$files = Get-ChildItem -Path $parent -Recurse -Filter '*.rar'

$files now contain an array of ‘System.IO.FileInfo’ objects. So when you loop through those objects with ‘foreach ($f in $files)’ the $f variable will hold a single ‘System.IO.FileInfo’ object, with properties you can access:

$f.FullName   # the full path of the file.
$f.Name       # the file name
$f.Directory  # The directory the file is in

… and so forth.

4

To get the filename just use split-path. Just change the subject line to:

$subject = “Unpacked a file $(Split-path $f.FullName -leaf)”

5

Hi Guys, Thanks very much to all of you. Three examples of three ways to attack the problem and each works. I have learned more here in a few minutes than the whole time I have been playing with Powershell. Thanks for explaining what each code snippet does,it helps me understand how syntax changes the way the code works.