Vista - Tab completion not what I expected

Hi all
I've recently installed V2 CTP3. (never had CTP2). When type a command
and then use TAB expansion to (for example) conplete and file name, I get
the previously typed command and not the expanded filename(s). I've
discovered that the problem seems to be the filenames that start with "#".
PS requires that these names be enclosed in quotes, either single or double.

I have a 4 or 5 file files named #missingxxx.txt. When I type dir '#m
<tab> it cycles through all my previous commands rather than just the files
starting with "#m". Does the "#" character mean anything special to PS? In
PS v1 it worked just fine.

--
Confused.

This seems to be a "feature" of the built-in TabExpansion function, which
according the help can be redefined.

type Function:\TabExpansion
..
..
..

# Tab complete against history either #<pattern> or
#<id>
'^#(\w*)' {
$_pattern = $matches[1]
if ($_pattern -match '^[0-9]+$')
{
Get-History -ea SilentlyContinue -Id $_pattern |
Foreach { $_.CommandLine }
}
else
{
$_pattern = '*' + $_pattern + '*'
Get-History | Sort-Object -Descending Id|
Foreach { $_.CommandLine } | where { $_ -like $_pattern }
}
break;
}


HTH,
Hans


"Tim Munro" <Excelsior@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OBDSiDIBKHA.4376@xxxxxx

Regarding the use of # in PowerShell V2

# is a PS indicator that the rest of the line is a comment
For example
dir *.ps1 # comment

You can have embeddded comments
dir <# comment #> *.ps1

Or multiline comments
<#
comment line 1
comment line 2
#>

- Larry


Tim Munro wrote:

Hristo Deshev's book "Pro Windows PowerShell" has a section named "Tab
Expansion:How Command Completion Works" in "Chapter 11: The Shell Environment
and it's Configuration" that describes the default TabExpansion function and how
you can replace or extend it.

http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Windows-Po...-Hristo-Deshev



Hans Dingemans wrote:

Thank you both Hans, and Larry. I've always used the '#' to indicate a
temporary or transivitive file. Therefore if I "del #*" I have no worries.
This also explains why my files need to be enclosed on quotes. I don't think
I'll muck with the PS defaults. I'll find some other convention to denote my
disposable files.

--
Tim.

"Larry__Weiss" <lfw@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OzIQgYJBKHA.1252@xxxxxx

>>> I'll find some other convention to denote my disposable files.

Strange, my V2 CTP3 help file suggests there's a New-Path cmdlet...

C:\PS>new-path
C:\Users\admin1\AppData\Local\Temp\tmpD45F.tmp
C:\PS>

.... but PowerShell does not recognize it. Online MSDN help does not mention
the cmdlet (anymore).

In that case, you could use the .NET classes :-)

PS> [IO.Path]::GetTempPath()
C:\Users\Hans Dingemans\AppData\Local\Temp\
PS>
PS> $tmpfile = [IO.Path]::GetTempFileName()
PS> $tmpfile
C:\Users\Hans Dingemans\AppData\Local\Temp\tmp3CE0.tmp
PS>

Hth,
Hans


"Tim Munro" <Excelsior@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OC79C%23gBKHA.4336@xxxxxx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...mfilename.aspx

Or use GetRandomFileName method if you do not want to create the file (yet).

PS> $tmpfile = [IO.Path]::GetRandomFileName()
PS> $tmpfile
uxoqsxig.y01
PS>


"Hans Dingemans" <hansdingemans@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ewSC9thBKHA.5068@xxxxxx

Not that kind of disposable file. The files need specific names as they hold
specific information from a production run. After I've checked over the file
and processesed it, it is no longer of any use. In that sense it's
temporary. Just any random filename wouldn't help I'm afraid.

"Hans Dingemans" <hansdingemans@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OToMI0hBKHA.5020@xxxxxx