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Class Constructor Error - Can't Set Variable Values

See original GitHub issue

Prerequisites

Write a descriptive title.
Make sure you are able to repro it on the latest released version
Search the existing issues.
Refer to the FAQ.
Refer to Differences between Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell.

Steps to reproduce

I’m writing a PowerShell class as follows:

class FileTransferStatus {

    [System.IO.FileInfo[]]$files
    $totalBytesToTransfer
    $bytesLeftToTransfer

    FileTransferStatus([System.IO.FileInfo[]]$files)
    {
        this.$totalBytesToTransfer = 0
        foreach ($file in $files) {
            this.$totalBytesToTransfer += $file.length
        }
        this.$bytesLeftToTransfer = this.$totalBytesToTransfer
    }
}

Expected behavior

No error message

Actual behavior

Visual Studio Code reports an error on the last line of the constructor, which tries to initialize $bytesLeftToTransfer. The message is:

**Variable is not assigned in the method.**

Error details

The error is from Visual Studio Code during editing, not from running the script.

Environment data

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.3.4
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.3.4
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.19045
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Visuals

Issue Analytics

State:
Created 3 months ago
Comments:7 (3 by maintainers)

Top GitHub Comments

1reaction

aksarbencommented, Jun 6, 2023

Wow. I feel like I’m sipping from the proverbial fire hose.

I must have stared at documentation for an hour without seeing this misplaced dollar sign. Glad your eyes are better than mine.

I don’t know who at Microsoft edits documentation, but this is a good example of where clear error messages are invaluable.

Thanks for the help!

0reactions

mklement0commented, Jun 7, 2023

Reflecting more on the potential to improve the error message: I think it can be improved:

#19767

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