Question

I am just getting started with Windows Powershell and I am try to create a function that parses a webpage. I have tested the individual calls in the function and they seem to be working correctly. Here is the function I have created.

function GoTo-Website ([string]website = "google.com")
{
     $ie.navigate($website);

     $image = @($ie.Document.getElementByName("main_image"))[0].href;

     $title = @($ie.Document.getElementByTagName("h1"))[3].innerHTML;

     $date = @($ie.Document.getElementByTagName("h3"))[0].innerHTML;
}

This is stored in powershellScript.ps1 in the current powershell directory.

The best error I can get when I call this function is

function goto-website “Website”

Missing function body in function declaration. At line:1 char:23 + function goto-website <<<< “website” + CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [], + FullyQualifiedErrorId : MissingFunctionBody

Is there anyway to modify my code to get pass this parser error?

I also was wondering if their is a way to call a function without putting “function” before the call?

Answer 1

Try this modified version of your code

function GoTo-Website
{
    Param ($website)
    $ie.navigate($website);
    $image = @($ie.Document.getElementByName("main_image"))[0].href;
    $title = @($ie.Document.getElementByTagName("h1"))[3].innerHTML;
    $date = @($ie.Document.getElementByTagName("h3"))[0].innerHTML;
}

which you can call with

GoTo-Website "http://www.google.com"

or

GoTo-Website -website "http://www.google.com/"

No need to put “function” before the call.

See today’s post on the Scripting Guy Blog for a little more information on functions.