Question

I try to compare 2 Folders. A and B.
B is a Backup Folder of A. Firstly I want to check if any Files have been deleted in Folder A, if so, I want to take that corresponding File from B and move it. Then I can go ahead and RoboCopy /mir A again which will create the Backup.

My issue is how to compare the two directories (A and B have subfolders etc), and then move the Deleted File. Here is the Code which is supposed to do this task.

#region | Global Variables 
$backupFolder = "Sandbox_Backup"
$UsbDisk = "C:\Users\pullrich\Desktop"
#endregion 

$date = Get-Date -Format G
# Create Log that Script has been started
MyLog "--- Script has been started at $date ---" 0
$testfolder = Test-Path "$UsbDisk\$backupFolder"  
 # If a Backup folder already exist then Compare files and see if any changes have been made
        if ( $testfolder -eq $true ) { #IF_2  

                    # Copy deleted files to BackUp Folder
                    MyLog "Check for Deleted Files on Data_01:\" 0                  
                    $source = $testfolder + "\Data_01"
                    $sourcelist = Get-ChildItem $source -Recurse
                    $destination = "$UsbDisk\$backupFolder\Data_01\_DeletedFiles"
                    $testDestination = Test-Path $destination
                    if ( $testDestination -eq $false ){
                        mkdir $destination
                    }

                    foreach ($file in $sourcelist){
                    $result = test-path -path "C:\Users\pullrich\Desktop\Sandbox\Data_01*" -include $file.Name
                        if ( -not $result ){
                        $CopyFile = $file.DirectoryName + "\" + $file.Name
                        Copy-Item $CopyFile -Destination $destination
                        Remove-Item $CopyFile
                        }

                    }

                    # Start Synchronizing Data_01:\
                    MyLog "Start Synchronizing Data_01:\" 0
                    Robocopy "C:\Users\pullrich\Desktop\HP-Sandbox\Data_01" "$UsbDisk\$backupFolder\Data_01" /mir /r:2 /w:3 /M /XD VM_*

                    MyLog "Data_01:\ is up to Date" 0 
        } #IF_2

UPDATE 1

I kept working on the Code and figured out that the issue seems to be here:

            $result = test-path -path "C:\Users\pullrich\Desktop\Sandbox\Data_01*" -include $file.Name

It will always return false, because it is not really doing what I intended it to do I guess. It’s supposed to go through every File in the B folder and check if that File exists in A.

Answer

I was able to get the Script done with latkins’ answer.
For reference, here is the Full script.

#region | Global Variables 
$backupFolder = "Sandbox_Backup"
$UsbDisk = "C:\Users\pullrich\Desktop"
#endregion 

$date = Get-Date -Format G
# Create Log that Script has been started
MyLog "--- Script has been started at $date ---" 0

        $testfolder = Test-Path "$UsbDisk\$backupFolder"  

        # If a Backup folder already exist then Compare files and see if any changes have been made
        if ( $testfolder -eq $true ) { #IF_2  

                    # Copy deleted files to BackUp Folder
                    MyLog "Check for Deleted Files on Data_01:\" 0
                    # Set Data_01 as Source
                    $source = "$UsbDisk\$backupFolder\Data_01"
                    # Get all Items
                    $sourcelist = Get-ChildItem $source -Recurse
                    # Choose as Destination the DeletedFiles Folder
                    $destination = "C:\Users\pullrich\Desktop\Sandbox\Data_01\_DeletedFiles"
                    mkdir $destination

                    # Check if a File or Folder exists in the BackUp folder but not on the Server
                    foreach ($file in $sourcelist){
                        # First we have to check if the File we have in the Backup still exists on the Server; however, we do not care about the DeletedFiles Folder
                        if ( -not ($file.Name -eq "_DeletedFiles" )){ 
                            $fullPath = "C:\Users\pullrich\Desktop\Sandbox\Data_01" + $file.FullName.Substring($source.Length)
                            $result = test-path $fullPath
                            # If it doesn't exist then we go ahead and Copy the File to the DeletedFiles Folder on the Server, 
                            # which will later be copied to the BackUp and then deleted of the Server
                            if(-not $result ){
                                $CopyFile = $source + $file.FullName.Substring($source.Length)
                                Copy-Item $CopyFile -Destination $destination -force
                            }

                        }

                    }

                    # Start Synchronizing Data_01:\
                    MyLog "Start Synchronizing Data_01:\" 0
                    Robocopy "C:\Users\pullrich\Desktop\Sandbox\Data_01" "$UsbDisk\$backupFolder\Data_01" /mir /r:2 /w:3 /M /XD VM_*

                    #Delete the DeletedFiles Folder from Server and keep it only on the BackUp
                    Remove-Item $destination

                    MyLog "Data_01:\ is up to Date" 0 
        } #IF_2

        else { #Else_2

                    mkdir "$UsbDisk\$backupFolder" 

                    # Start Copying Data 
                    MyLog "Start Backing up Data_01:\" 0
                    Robocopy "C:\Users\pullrich\Desktop\Sandbox\Data_01" "$UsbDisk\$backupFolder\Data_01" /mir /r:2 /w:3 /XD VM_*

        }

# Delete All Files in _DeleteFiles Folder which are Older than 60 Days

Answer 1

You could construct the full path for each potential file, rather than relying on a potentially costly recursive wildcard search.

Each $file comes from some subdirectory of $source, so the full path (given by $file.FullName) can be shortened to the “relative” path by dropping the first $source.Length chars from $file.FullName. Take your new root path and add it to this relative path, and you’ve got the new full path.

$fullPath = "C:\Users\pullrich\Desktop\Sandbox\Data_01" + $file.FullName.Substring($source.Length)
$result = Test-Path $fullPath