PowerShell Tip: Dynamic Data Type

I have used PowerShell(PS) for quite a while. I really enjoy its power and great features. I did not spent time to learn PS thoroughly or systematically(such as C/C++, .Net C# or VB, or Objective-C). I just learn it by examples and by demand. The main reason is that PS covers a wide range of areas, from DOS command to .Net and other scripts. I just don't have time to learn it in a long time span.

One of PS great features is its dynamic data type. All the variables are defined by $ prefix. You can define a variable with strong data type. However, sometimes you just need to take the advantage of its dynamic data type. For example, the following code is to get files. The result may be null, one file or a collection of files:

$fs = Get-Item -Path "*.txt"

In order to find out if the result contain any file, you have to check the cases of empty, one object or a collection of objects.

$fs = Get-Item -Path "*.txt"
if ($fs -eq $null) {
  Echo "empty files"
}
if ($fs.Count -eq $null) {
  Echo ("one file: {0}" -f $fs)
}
else {
  Echo ("collection of files. Count: {0}" -f $fs.Count)
  $fs
}