Powershell: resolve path that might not exist?

Question

I\'m trying to process a list of files that may or may not be up to date and may or may not yet exist. In doing so, I need to resolve the full path of an item, even though

Answer 1

When Resolve-Path fails due to the file not existing, the fully resolved path is accessible from the thrown error object.

You can use a function like the following to fix Resolve-Path and make it work like you expect.

function Force-Resolve-Path {
    <#
    .SYNOPSIS
        Calls Resolve-Path but works for files that don't exist.
    .REMARKS
        From http://devhawk.net/blog/2010/1/22/fixing-powershells-busted-resolve-path-cmdlet
    #>
    param (
        [string] $FileName
    )

    $FileName = Resolve-Path $FileName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue `
                                       -ErrorVariable _frperror
    if (-not($FileName)) {
        $FileName = $_frperror[0].TargetObject
    }

    return $FileName
}