Variable provider

PowerShell includes a provider and a drive, which allows variables to be listed, created, and changed using Get-ChildItem, Test-Path, and so on.

Get-ChildItem may be used to list all the variables in the current scope by running the command shown as follows:

Get-ChildItem variable:

The output will include the built-in variables, as well as any variables created by modules that might have been imported.

As the provider behaves much like a filesystem, Test-Path may be used to determine whether a variable exists. Get-Variable may be used instead, but Get-Variable will throw an error if the variable does not exist:

Test-Path variable:\VerbosePreference

Set-Item may be used to change the value of a variable or create a new variable:

Set-Item variable:\new -Value variable

Get-Content can also be used to retrieve the content of a variable:

Get-Content variable:\OutputEncoding

The backslash character used in the preceding examples...