Question

I have a path in a string,

C:\temp\mybackup.zip

I would like insert a timestamp in that script, for example,

C:\temp\mybackup 2009-12-23.zip

Is there an easy way to do this in PowerShell?

Answer 1

You can insert arbitrary PowerShell script code in a double-quoted string by using a subexpression, for example, $() like so:

"C:\temp\mybackup $(get-date -f yyyy-MM-dd).zip"

And if you are getting the path from somewhere else – already as a string:

$dirName  = [io.path]::GetDirectoryName($path)
$filename = [io.path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($path)
$ext      = [io.path]::GetExtension($path)
$newPath  = "$dirName\$filename $(get-date -f yyyy-MM-dd)$ext"

And if the path happens to be coming from the output of Get-ChildItem:

Get-ChildItem *.zip | Foreach {
  "$($_.DirectoryName)\$($_.BaseName) $(get-date -f yyyy-MM-dd)$($_.extension)"}