Escape ampersand while executing the script

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I am trying to execute the PowerShell from WPF by pointing to the powershell.exe path. I have the following code
The error I am getting is The ampersand (&) character is not allowed. The & operator is reserved for future use; wrap an ampersand in double quotation marks ("&") to pass it as part of a string.

For Love of Software: Calling a PowerShell script in a path with a white space from command line[^]

My script looks as follows

C#

C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& 'c:\Test PS\Palindrome.ps1' -param Hello"

which is executing fine when I directly copy paste into PowerShell, but not from the Win froms application

Code for the same

ConsoleApplication2.rar - Google Drive[^]

What I have tried:

C#

ProcessStartInfo proc = new ProcessStartInfo();
           string PSPath = string.Concat(Environment.SystemDirectory, "\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe");
           proc.FileName = PSPath;
           string DirectoryPath = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location);
           string script1 = string.Concat(DirectoryPath, "\\Palindrome.ps1 -param Hello");
           var match1 = Regex.Split(script1, @"(?<=\.ps1)\s+");
           string newfile1 = string.Concat("\"& '" + match1[0] + "'", " ", match1[1], "\"");
           string ScriptPath = string.Concat(PSPath, " -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command ");
           ScriptPath = string.Concat(ScriptPath, newfile1);

           //ScriptPath = string.Concat(ScriptPath, script);
           proc.Arguments = ScriptPath;
           using (Process p = new Process())
           {
               proc.Verb = "runas";
               proc.UseShellExecute = false;
               proc.RedirectStandardError = true;
               p.StartInfo = proc;
               p.Start();
               StreamReader myStreamReader = p.StandardError;
               p.WaitForExit();
               if (p.ExitCode != 0)
               {
                   MessageBox.Show(myStreamReader.ReadToEnd());
               }
           }

Posted 8-Dec-16 21:33pm

Learner PS

Updated 11-Dec-16 19:36pm

v3

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OriginalGriff · Answer 1 · 2016-12-08T21:45:00

Solution 1

That's because your scripts aren't the same:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& 'c:\Test PS\Palindrome.ps1' -param Hello"
C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command \&'D:\Documents\AA Backed Up\My Projects\GeneralTesting\GeneralTesting\bin\Debug\Palindrome.ps1' -param Hello"

Start by replacing that "\" with a double quote, and adding a space after the ampersand:

C#

string newfile = string.Concat("\"& '" + match1[0] + "'", " ", match1[1], "\"");

Posted 8-Dec-16 21:45pm

OriginalGriff

Comments

Learner PS 9-Dec-16 3:51am

No luck still getting the same issue. The code for the same is here http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/forums/uploadfile/2cd341/370588/Test_PS.rar

OriginalGriff 9-Dec-16 4:01am

If what you show us is exactly what you execute at the command line and it works, then double check the string in ScriptPath against the string - it should now be identical. So try removing the "C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" part from the front and passing the remains as the parameters.

Learner PS 9-Dec-16 4:03am

The code in my solution is same as I just updated, but still not working can you help me

Learner PS 9-Dec-16 4:16am

Here is the complete code https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6o552kozQh4VkdMZ3M5TElvY1E

Michael_Davies 9-Dec-16 4:21am

Try using && to escape the &, not saying it will work and nothing to hand to test it but worth a try.

Learner PS 9-Dec-16 4:25am

No luck it is saying the token && is not a valid separator

demouser743 · Answer 2 · 2016-12-11T19:36:00

Try the following code

C#

string script1 = string.Concat(DirectoryPath, "\\Palindrome.ps1 -param Hello");
var match1 = Regex.Split(script1, @"(?<=\.ps1)\s+");
string ScriptPath = string.Concat(" -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command ", @"&'" + match1[0] + "'", " ", "" + match1[1] + "");
proc.Arguments = ScriptPath;