A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '\*'

Question

I have a number of web services that I'm attempting to use PowerShell to install on a DEV server. I want to include, in the script, a section that copies all files and folders from a staging area to the respective folder on the DEV server.

In order to do this I've created two parallel string arrays - one containing the direct file paths of the staging folders and the other with the names of each folder on the DEV server (I use a couple other variables to store the rest of the directory).

I'd like to create a for loop and simply iterate over both arrays to complete the transfer of files/folders from staging to dev server. However when the loop runs the copy-item command gives this error each time

Copy-Item : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '*'.

If I decide not to use the loop, the error goes away and the files transfer properly. Only a couple days new to PowerShell so I'm not sure what's going on/haven't been able to find anything specific to this on the web.

Variables

#web services
$periscopeWebServices = "periscopeWebServices"
$periscopeRetrieveComments = "periscopeRetrieveComments"
$periscopeRetrieveGeneral = "periscopeRetrieveGeneral"
$periscopeRetrieveMasterSubs = "periscopeRetrieveMasterSubs"
$periscopeRetrieveProducers = "periscopeRetrieveProducers"
$periscopeRetrieveProfiles = "periscopeRetrieveProfiles"
$periscopeRetrieveRelationships = "periscopeRetrieveRelationships"
$periscopeSearch = "periscopeSearch"
$periscopeServicesArray = @($periscopeRetrieveComments, $periscopeRetrieveGeneral, 
                            $periscopeRetrieveMasterSubs, $periscopeRetrieveProducers, 
                            $periscopeRetrieveProfiles, $periscopeRetrieveRelationships, 
                            $periscopeSearch)


#staging areas
$stagingComments = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveComments"
$stagingGeneral = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveGeneral"
$stagingMasterSubs = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveMasterSubs"
$stagingProducers = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveProducers"
$stagingProfiles = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveProfiles"
$stagingRelationships = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeRetrieveRelationships"
$stagingSearch = "\\install\PeriscopeServices\periscopeWebServices\periscopeSearch"
$stagingArray = @($stagingComments, $stagingGeneral, $stagingMasterSubs, $stagingProducers
                  $stagingProfiles, $stagingRelationships, $stagingSearch)

#server variables
$domain = "InsideServices.dev.com"
$directory = "E:\webcontent"
$domainpath = "$directory\$domain"      

Loop - throws error on 'copy-item'

#copy files
Write-Host "Copying Files" -ForegroundColor Yellow
For ($i=0; $i -lt $periscopeServicesArray.Length; $i++)
{
    Write-Host "Copying $($periscopeServicesArray[$i])" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    if(Test-Path -path "$domainpath\$periscopeWebServices\$($periscopeServicesArray[$i])")
    {
        copy-item -Path $($stagingArray[$i])\* -Destination $domainpath\$periscopeWebServices\$($periscopeServicesArray[$i]) -recurse -Force
    }
}

Succesful copy-item command

copy-item -Path $stagingComments\* -Destination $domainpath\$periscopeWebServices\$periscopeRetrieveComments -recurse -Force

Solution

I think it's because you're using a sub-expression $() inside the loop, but not outside. Try these:

"$($stagingArray[$i])\*"

Surrounding it in quotes makes it evaluate the whole thing as a string.

$($stagingArray[$i]) + '\*'

This will concatenate the result of the sub-expression and the string containing the \*.

Comments

[NealR]

So now it's saying that it cannot accept argument '+'. Do I need to quote the sub-expression?

[NealR]

Nevermind, enclosing the variables/string in parenthesis solved the problem: ($($stagingArray[$i]) + '\*')