Is “Dollar-sign” optional in powershell “$()”?

Question

I\'ve seen an example for setting the timestamps (creationtime, lastaccesstime, lastwritetime) of a file with powershell:

PS>$(get-item test.txt).lastwritetim         


        

Answer 1

You need the $ sign to denote a sub expression if you use multiple statements or the statement is embedded in a string. Parenthesis without the $ is just a grouping operator.

$($x = 1; $y =2; $x + $y).tostring() //3

($x = 1; $y =2; $x + $y).tostring() // invalid syntax

($x = 1 + 2).tostring() //3

"$(1 +2)"  //3