Continue - PowerShell

Overview

The Continue command prevents the execution of a pipeline’s remaining commands if the exit code of a previous command in the pipeline is non-zero. It’s designed to enable controlled error handling, allowing users to proceed with subsequent commands only if the previous command succeeded.

Syntax

Continue [[-ErrorAction] <ErrorAction>] [[-ErrorVariable] <ErrorVariable>]

Parameters

| Parameter | Description |
| ——————– | ———————————————————— |
| -ErrorAction | Specifies how the error should be handled. |
| -ErrorVariable | Specifies the variable to store any error that occurs. |

Options/Flags

| Option/Flag | Description | Default |
| ————- | ————————————————————– | ——- |
| -ErrorAction | Controls how errors are handled: | Continue |
| | * Continue: Continue execution regardless of the error. | |
| | * Stop: Stop execution and terminate the script. | |
| | * SilentlyContinue: Continue execution without displaying an error message. | |
| -ErrorVariable | Captures the error information and stores it in the specified variable. | $Error |

Examples

Example 1: Simple usage

Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -ne "Running"} | Continue

In this example, the Continue command ensures that the Get-Service pipeline continues executing only if the Where-Object command succeeds (i.e., finds running services).

Example 2: Error handling with -ErrorVariable

$error = $null
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -ne "Running"} | Continue -ErrorVariable error

Here, the -ErrorVariable parameter captures any error encountered during the pipeline execution and stores it in the $error variable.

Common Issues

  • Incorrect usage of -ErrorAction: Using -ErrorAction Stop within a pipeline may prematurely terminate the script, even if subsequent commands are not affected by the error.
  • Unhandled errors: Not using -ErrorAction or -ErrorVariable can result in unhandled errors and unexpected behavior.

Integration

  • Error handling in scripts: Continue can be integrated into PowerShell scripts to control error handling, ensuring that only successful operations trigger subsequent commands.
  • Conditional execution: It can be combined with conditional commands like If and Switch to execute specific commands based on the exit code of previous commands.
  • Exit: Terminates the execution of the current script or function.
  • Throw: Generates an error and terminates the execution of the current script or function.
  • Try/Catch: Provides a way to handle errors and continue execution even when an error occurs.