How can PowerShell foreach possibly be failing with a null array in this code?

Question

How can this powershell code possibly fail with 'Cannot index into a null array.'? It makes no sense to me at all. Surely $cloudPfx should be a non-null array?

$cloudPfx = @( "Foo.pfx", "Bar.pfx", $SSLCertFileName )
$cloudPfx | foreach {
    ## call some function...
    Save-Pfx "Foo\$_" (Join-Path $SomePath "Bar$_")
}

foreach : Cannot index into a null array.
At [that line]
+     $cloudPfx | foreach {
+                 ~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [ForEach-Object], RuntimeException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NullArray,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ForEachObjectCommand

It shouldn't, even if $SSLCertFileName is null. Given that, there must be more to this code than what is posted. What is in $SSLCertFileName, for example? — Sumo
– Sumo, Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 5:58
And, was the code copy/pasted by chance? Are there any errant special characters appearing as spaces? — Sumo
– Sumo, Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 5:59
Try to use foreach statements instead of the cmdlet. I.e. change your code to foreach($_ in $cloudPfx) {..}. It will not solve your problem but you will hopefully get a better error message. — Roman Kuzmin
– Roman Kuzmin, Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 12:05
Also use this line instead of the original incorrect: Save-Pfx "Foo\$_" (Join-Path $SomePath "Bar$_") — Roman Kuzmin
– Roman Kuzmin, Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 12:09

Tim Lovell-Smith · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-17 17:50:28Z

1

So, by adding debug output statements - it turns out that the problem is really occurring inside the Save-Pfx function. It's just that the error presentation is completely wrong. (I think Roman probably suspected this, given that he suggested switching to foreach statements.)

answered Oct 17, 2012 at 17:50

Tim Lovell-Smith

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