Using Start-Job and ArgumentList How do you pass an array and string Values

Question

Using Start-Job and ArgumentList, how do you pass an array and another variable to the receiving script?

This works if I only need to pass a single array

Start-Job -FilePath "c:\thescript.ps1" -ArgumentList (,$newArray)

Tried this, but the second value is not being used in the receiving script.

Start-Job -FilePath "c:\thescript.ps1" -ArgumentList (,$newArray,"x")

thescript.ps1 example:

param (
    [string[]]$aMyArray,
    [string]$sMyString
)

function DoWork ([string]$aItem,[string]$sMyString)
{
    #worker
}

foreach($aItem in $aMyArray)
{
    DoWork $aItem $sMyString
}

I'm currently working in PowerShell 2.0

take the x out of the brackets. You don't use commas to delimit arguments. They are seen as a single object otherwise. — Matt, Jun 16 '17 at 17:16
@Matt this is what you are suggesting? -ArgumentList (,$newArray) "x" — Taco_Buffet, Jun 16 '17 at 18:27
Yes. It all depends on your use case and how thescript.ps1 is configured though. — Matt, Jun 16 '17 at 18:45
@Briantist. He knows how to pass the array. Its the next arguments he is having an issue with. I was looking for a multiple arguments dupe but didnt find one i liked. — Matt, Jun 16 '17 at 18:50
@Matt I've updated the post to include an example of thescrpit.ps1. You see anything that would stop the second argument from being passed in? — Taco_Buffet, Jun 19 '17 at 18:21

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 10 '19 at 07:03

2

Just googled the same question but in the end I figured out. It's rather straight forward. Though in all posts the solution to pass an array to a job is (,$ArrayArg) and it works (for me it's still weird) if that is the only argument. Though with multiple args, one being an array, this is what worked for me:

$foo1 = @("1","2","3")
$foo2 = "foo"

Start-Job -Name Test `
-ScriptBlock {
    param([string[]]$arg1,[string]$arg2)
    Write-Output $arg1
    Write-Output $arg1.GetType()
    Write-Output "----"
    Write-Output $arg2
    Write-Output $arg2.GetType()
} `
-ArgumentList @($foo1),$foo2

edited Jun 10 '19 at 07:03

Christopher G. Lewis

4,777
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answered Aug 18 '17 at 21:52

cgsilver

29
3

Yes, it's straight forward, but the provided examples didn't work. In my case $aMyArray is a bunch of URLs. Ended up going a different route. – Taco_Buffet Aug 19 '17 at 01:59
This didn't work for me. I had to use something like `$using:foo1`. – js2010 Oct 11 '19 at 15:14
1

It changes if you take away $arg2. – js2010 Oct 11 '19 at 16:13
In fact, the @( ) doesn't do anything. The ,$foo2 is what makes it work. – js2010 Oct 11 '19 at 16:24

js2010 · Answer 2 · 2019-10-11T16:27:12.627

0

I have to do it this way with the comma and parentheses around $list:

$list = echo a b c 

Start-Job -ScriptBlock {
  param ( $a )

  $a | % { $_ }
} -Args (,$list) | Wait-Job | Receive-Job

Or with the using scope:

$list = echo a b c

Start-Job -ScriptBlock {
  $using:list | % { $_ }
} | Wait-Job | Receive-Job

edited Oct 11 '19 at 16:27

answered Oct 11 '19 at 15:37

js2010

23,033
6
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Using Start-Job and ArgumentList How do you pass an array and string Values

2 Answers2