Powershell - check if file exist and contains string pattern - windows

Question

wrote this small part of code to check if file exist and contains string pattern
try {
$SEL = Select-String -Path \\$serversPing\c$\Scripts\compare_result.txt -Pattern "no differences encountered" -ErrorAction SilentlyCOntinue
}catch{
$ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.Message
$FailedItem = $_.Exception.ItemName
}
Finally {
if ($SEL | Test-Path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue){
#write-host $serversPing $SEL.Pattern
#write-host $serversPing $SEL
if ($SEL.Pattern -eq "no differences encountered")
{
$SoftCheckResult = "ok"
}
else
{
$SoftCheckResult ="Verify"
}
}
else{
$SoftCheckResult = "NotInScope"
}
}
But, it does not do what it should. First of all it partially recognize that path exist and secondly it does partially recognize pattern in txt file. Can you please help me?
I suspect that PATTER is partially recognizable on multiply server.(whitepaces etc) even so how to skip that?
Strange think is that it does not see that pattern is missing in file, it return
NotinScope instead Verify
Below file without this pattern
And below you can see normal pattern

Answer 1

Since you use plural in $serversPing, I suspect this variable comes from an earlier part of your code and contains a COLLECTION of servers.
I would change the order of checks and start with a test to see if the file exists on that server or not:
# As you mentioned a possible whitespace problem the pattern below uses regex `\s+` so multiple whitespace characters are allowed betwen the words.
$pattern = "no\s+differences\s+encountered"
foreach ($server in $serversPing) {
if (Test-Connection $server -Count 1 -Quiet) {
$filePath = Join-Path -Path "\\$server" -ChildPath 'c$\Scripts\compare_result.txt'
if (Test-Path $filePath -PathType Leaf) {
# -Quiet: Indicates that the cmdlet returns a Boolean value (True or False), instead of a MatchInfo object.
# The value is True if the pattern is found; otherwise, the value is False.
if (Select-String -Path $filePath -Pattern $pattern -Quiet) {
Write-Host "Pattern '$pattern' found in '$filePath'"
$SoftCheckResult = "ok"
}
else {
Write-Host "Pattern '$pattern' not found in '$filePath'"
$SoftCheckResult = "Verify"
}
}
else {
Write-Host "File '$filePath' not found"
$SoftCheckResult ="NotInScope"
}
}
else {
Write-Host "Server '$server' is off-line."
$SoftCheckResult ="OffLine"
}
}
I added a Test-Connection in the foreach loop to first see if the server is online or not. If you have checked that before and the $serversPing variable contains only servers that are online and reachable, you may skip that.

Answer 2

Concerning the -Path of the Select-String cmdlet, you should put the value between "" :
$SEL = Select-String -Path "\\$serversPing\c$\Scripts\compare_result.txt" -Pattern "no differences encountered" -ErrorAction SilentlyCOntinue
EDIT
This should do the trick :
try {
$SEL = Select-String -Path \\$serversPing\c$\Scripts\compare_result.txt -Pattern "no differences encountered" -ErrorAction SilentlyCOntinue
}catch{
$ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.Message
$FailedItem = $_.Exception.ItemName
}
Finally {
if ($SEL){
$SoftCheckResult = "ok"
}
else
{
$SoftCheckResult ="Verify"
}
}

Answer 3

try
{
$SEL = $null
$SEL = Select-String -Path \\$serversPing\c$\Scripts\compare_result.txt -Pattern "no differences encountered" -ErrorAction Stop
if ($SEL)
{
$SoftCheckResult = "ok"
}
else
{
$SoftCheckResult = "Verify"
}
}
catch
{
$ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.Message
$FailedItem = $_.Exception.ItemName
$SoftCheckResult = "NotInScope"
}
return $softCheckResult

Answer 4

Please try like below :
$SEL = "Fiile path location"
if ($SEL | Test-Path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue){
if ($SEL Get-Content | Select-String -pattern "no differences encountered")
{
}
....
}