Windows registry entry / Powershell / Copy file to subfolder (and append timestamp)

PowerShell Help
1

Hi there.

I have what I think will be a one-time need to code in Powershell. I hope someone here can help me with the last bit of code to make my dream come true.

It would help my daily work to have a simple (semi-)manual backup procedure that allows me to:
Right-click any file and click an option in the menu to make a copy of that file in a subfolder (named _backup) with a timestamp appended to the filename.

Helped by the rather old discussion here:
https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/166646-adding-date-name-files-folders-3.html

… I have managed to make the copy and append timestamp work with the following code imported as a .reg-file as a registry entry:
//START of CODE
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shell\CopyAppendDate]
@=“Copy and Append Date”

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shell\CopyAppendDate\Command]
@=“PowerShell.exe -WindowStyle Hidden -Command \”( Get-Item -LiteralPath ‘%1’ ) | %%{ Copy-Item -LiteralPath $.FullName -Destination ( ‘{0} {1:yyyy-MM-dd_HH.mm.ss}{2}’ -f $.BaseName, $.LastWriteTime, $.Extension ) }\“”
//END of CODE (a few \ is removed by the system here, but I hope it’s readable anyway)

I have tried adding .\_backup in various positions and with/without backslash, quotation marks, etc. but with no luck.

How do I refer to a specific subfolder in the code (and ideally create it, if it doesn’t exist already)?

Thanks!

2

hello,

  1. you should use foreach instead of %%
  2. everywhere you use $. , replace with $_.
  3. i recommand you to put commands in a script in a shared folder and call this script in the commandline in the registry. This is easyer to debug.
param( $file )
try {

	#-- get file information --
	$item = get-item -literalpath $file -ea stop

	$directory  = $item.directory
	$backuppath = "$directory\_backup"
	$date       = $item.lastwritetime.ToString('yyyy-MM-dd_HH.mm.ss')
	$destfile   = "$($backuppath)\$($item.basename) $($date)$($item.extension)"

	#-- create subfolder --
	if (-not (get-item -literalpath $backuppath -ea silentlycontinue) ) {
		$null = new-item -itemtype directory -path $backuppath -erroraction Stop
	}

	#-- copy file in backup folder --
	Copy-Item -LiteralPath $item.FullName -Destination $destfile
	write-host "file saved successfully" -foregroundcolor green
} catch {
	write-host "ERROR at line n°$($_.invocationinfo.scriptlinenumber). $($_.exception.message)" -foregroundcolor red
}

suppose you save the script in “c:\shared tools\backupfile.ps1”. Then, in the registry, you can have something simpler :
powershell -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -command “& ‘c:\shared tools\backupfile.ps1’ -file ‘%1’”
and this give the registry file :

3

Thanks a lot. It works. However, not until I manually copy the command line into the command field in the registry. Initially after importing, it’s empty (value not set).
Any simple explanation for that?

4

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