How to assign a variable to a variable using Read-Host in PowerShell

Question

I know the following is probably not the most efficient code in the world but its how I thought of solving the issue through my own volition.

I'd like to do the following:

 $1 = "Mazada"
 $2 = "Toyota"
 $3 = "Mitsubishi"

$car = Read-Host "Type Variable here" 

Write-Output = $car

Now the final product would give you a list of the variables in "Read-Host" command and then you would know what to type in. I know I have to solve that problem for those of you noticing the missing ingredients in the script.

Ideally I would like for anyone to type in the car choice like "$3" in the Read-Host portion and then assign it to the $car variable so that it outputs Mitsubishi.

What am I doing wrong ?

If I type in $3 i just get = $3

Thank you very much

Your question doesn't make any sense. What is your end-goal? — Maximilian Burszley
– Maximilian Burszley, Commented Apr 9, 2018 at 17:53
end-goal is to assign $car a car name by getting the variable from "Read-Host". So if Bob runs the script and he types $2 then $car = $2 so Write-Output = Toyota — Victor Antifries
– Victor Antifries, Commented Apr 9, 2018 at 17:57

zdan · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-09 18:38:28Z

2

$3 in the context of a running script is an expression that needs to be evaluated by powershell in order to return the variable's value.

When you use Read-Host, powerhsell will not evaluate what was entered as an expression, it just copies the characters into a string. However, it is possible to get the result you desire, using Invoke-Expression, but that is dangerous. You can have the user just enter the name of the variable and use the Get-Variable commandlet:

$1 = "Mazada"
$2 = "Toyota"
$3 = "Mitsubishi"

$var = Read-Host "Type Variable here name here" 

$car = get-Variable -name $var -valueonly

Write-Output "`$car=$car"

A better option would be to present the user with a menu of options that they choose from (e.g. 1, 2 or 3). For example (some error handling missing):

$cars = @("Mazada", "Toyota", "Mitsubishi")

$menuIndex = 1
Write-Host "Choose one of these cars:"
$cars | foreach {
    Write-Host $menuIndex " - $_";
    $menuIndex += 1;
 }


$ChosenItem = [int](Read-Host "Your choice (1 to $($menuIndex-1))")

$car = $cars[$ChosenItem-1]

Write-Output "`$car=$car"

edited Apr 9, 2018 at 18:38

answered Apr 9, 2018 at 18:02

zdan

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3 Comments

Maximilian Burszley Over a year ago

A safer method would be Get-Variable -Name $var.Replace('$','')

Maximilian Burszley Over a year ago

Also, $($_) this syntax is unnecessary.

zdan Over a year ago

@TheIncorrigible1: You're right. Updated the answer.

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