Get-ChildItem does not work with -Path '\\?\'

[DarkLite1]

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Prerequisites

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

Steps to reproduce

We are migrating code from PowerShell 5.1 to PowerShell 7.4.1 while running into the following issue:

$params = @{
    Path    = '\\?\C:\Temp' # does not work in PowerShell 7.4.1, but does in 5.1
    Recurse = $true
    Filter  = '*.ps1'
    Force   = $true
}
Get-ChildItem @params

We are working in a mixed environment where most of the machines are still running PowerShell 5.1 and most of the files are deeply rooted. This is why we use the \\?\ syntax, to allow PowerShell to not stumble upon "Path too long" errors.

Expected behavior

We are expecting all .ps1 files to be found in both versions of PowerShell.

Actual behavior

In PowerShell 7.4.1 no file is found when using Path = '\\?\C:\Temp'.

Error details

No response

Environment data

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.4.1
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.4.1
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.20348
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Visuals

No response

[237dmitry]

Use -LiteralPath instead of -Path

PS. I don't remember UNC path ever working in PowerShell Core, I might be wrong.

[MartinGC94]

? is a wildcard character, if I escape it, it works as I would expect:

PS C:\Users\Martin> Get-ChildItem -Path '\\`?\C:\Temp2'

        Directory: \\?\C:\Temp2


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
-a---          19-01-2024   16:07            0 B TestFile.txt

PS C:\Users\Martin> Get-ChildItem -Path '\\?\C:\Temp2'
PS C:\Users\Martin>

The Windows PowerShell behavior seems wrong in comparison:

PS C:\Users\Martin> Get-ChildItem -Path '\\`?\C:\Temp2'
Get-ChildItem : Cannot find path '\\`?\C:\Temp2' because it does not exist.
At line:1 char:1
+ Get-ChildItem -Path '\\`?\C:\Temp2'
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (\\`?\C:\Temp2:String) [Get-ChildItem], ItemNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetChildItemCommand

PS C:\Users\Martin> Get-ChildItem -Path '\\?\C:\Temp2'


    Directory: \\?\C:


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
d-----         19-01-2024   16:07                Temp2


PS C:\Users\Martin>

I can't escape it in Windows PowerShell, but if I don't escape it then it's treating it like a wildcard anyway (since it's showing me the contents of C:, rather than what's inside my Temp2 dir).
You can certainly make the argument that it shouldn't have changed in PowerShell because people might rely on the old behavior, but personally I'm of the opinion that breaking changes to fix obviously wrong behavior is fine.

Like @237dmitry said, if you use LiteralPath instead, then it works fine in both versions.

[mklement0]

Please see:

• #10805

[microsoft-github-policy-service[bot]]

This issue has been marked as duplicate and has not had any activity for 1 day. It has been closed for housekeeping purposes.

[microsoft-github-policy-service[bot]]

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