about_For - PowerShell command help and examples

Describes a language command you can use to run statements based on a (about_For)

 TOPIC
 
    about_For 

 SHORT DESCRIPTION
 
    Describes a language command you can use to run statements based on a 
    conditional test. 

 LONG DESCRIPTION
 
    The For statement (also known as a For loop) is a language construct 
    you can use to create a loop that runs commands in a command block while a 
    specified condition evaluates to true. 

    A typical use of the For loop is to iterate an array of values and to 
    operate on a subset of these values. In most cases, if you want to 
    iterate all the values in an array, consider using a Foreach statement. 

  Syntax 
      The following shows the For statement syntax. 

          for (<init>; <condition>; <repeat>) 
          {<statement list>} 

      The <init> placeholder represents one or more commands, separated by 
      commas, that are run before the loop begins. You typically use the 
      <init> portion of the statement to create and initialize a variable with 
      a starting value. 

      This variable will then be the basis for the condition to be tested in 
      the next portion of the For statement. 

      The <condition> placeholder represents the portion of the For statement 
      that resolves to a true or false Boolean value. Windows PowerShell 
      evaluates the condition each time the For loop runs. If the statement is 
      true, the commands in the command block run, and the statement is 
      evaluated again. If the condition is still true, the commands in the 
      statement list run again. The loop is repeated until the condition 
      becomes false. 

      The <repeat> placeholder represents one or more commands, separated by 
      commas, that are executed each time the loop repeats. Typically, this 
      is used to modify a variable that is tested inside the <condition> part 
      of the statement. 

      The <statement list> placeholder represents a set of one or more commands 
      that are run each time the loop is entered or repeated. The contents of 
      the statement list are surrounded by braces. 

  Examples 
      At a minimum, a For statement requires the parenthesis surrounding the 
      <init>, <condition>, and <repeat> part of the statement and a command 
      surrounded by braces in the <statement list> part of the statement. 

      Note that the upcoming examples intentionally show code outside the 
      For statement. In later examples, code is integrated into the for 
      statement. 

      For example, the following For statement continually displays the 
      value of the $i variable until you manually break out of the command by 
      pressing CTRL+C. 

          $i = 1 
          for (;;){Write-Host $i} 

      You can add additional commands to the statement list so that 
      the value of $i is incremented by 1 each time the loop is run, as the 
      following example shows. 

          for (;;){$i++; Write-Host $i} 

      Until you break out of the command by pressing CTRL+C, this statement 
      will continually display the value of the $i variable as it is 
      incremented by 1 each time the loop is run. 

      Rather than change the value of the variable in the statement list 
      part of the For statement, you can use the <repeat> portion of the For 
      statement instead, as follows. 

          $i=1 
          for (;;$i++){Write-Host $i} 

      This statement will still repeat indefinitely until you break out of the 
      command by pressing CTRL+C. 

      By setting a condition (using the <condition> portion of the For 
      statement), you can end the For loop when the condition evaluates to 
      false. In the following example, the For loop runs while the value of 
      $i is less than or equal to 10. 

          $i=1 
          for(;$i -le 10;$i++){Write-Host $i} 

      Instead of creating and initializing the variable outside the For 
      statement, you can perform this task inside the For loop by using 
      the <init> portion of the For statement. 

          for($i=1; $i -le 10; $i++){Write-Host $i} 

      You can use carriage returns instead of semicolons to delimit the 
      <init>, <condition>, and <repeat> portions of the For statement. The 
      following example shows the For statement syntax in this alternative 
      form. 

            for (<init> 
          <condition> 
          <repeat>){ 
          <statement list> 
          } 

      This alternative form of the For statement works in Windows PowerShell 
      script files and at the Windows PowerShell command prompt. However, it 
      is easier to use the For statement syntax with semicolons when you enter 
      interactive commands at the command prompt. 

      The For loop is more flexible than the Foreach loop because it allows 
      you to increment values in an array or collection by using patterns. In 
      the following example, the $i variable is incremented by 2 in the 
      <repeat> portion of the for statement. 

          for ($i = 0; $i -ile 20; $i += 2) {Write-Host $i} 

SEE ALSO 
    about_Comparison_Operators 
    about_Foreach 

C:\Windows>powershell get-help about_Foreach -full 

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.3693]
Copyright (c) 2023 Microsoft Corporation.

ColorConsole [Version 3.7.1000] PowerShell 2.0-Export

Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7 / Server 2022, 2019, 2016