Problem
You want to determine the current location from a script or command.
Solution
To retrieve the current location, use the GetLocation cmdlet. The GetLocation cmdlet provides the Drive and Path as two common properties:
$currentLocation = (GetLocation).Path
As a shortform for (GetLocation).Path, use the $pwd automatic variable.
Discussion
The GetLocation cmdlet returns information about the current location. From the information it returns, you can access the current drive, provider, and path.
This current location affects PowerShell commands and programs that you launch from PowerShell. It does not apply when you interact with the .NET Framework, however. If you need to call a .NET method that interacts with the filesystem, always be sure to provide fully qualified paths:
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFile("d:\documents\path_to_library.dll") If you are sure that the file exists, the ResolvePath cmdlet lets you translate a relative path to an absolute path:
$filePath = (ResolvePath library.dll).Path If the file does not exist, use the JoinPath cmdlet in combination with the GetLocation cmdlet to specify the file:
$filePath = JoinPath (GetLocation) library.dll
Another alternative that combines the functionality of both approaches is a bit more advanced but also lets you specify relative locations. It comes from methods in the PowerShell $executionContext variable, which provides functionality normally used by cmdlet and provider authors:
$executionContext.SessionState.Path.` GetUnresolvedProviderPathFromPSPath("..\library.dll")
For more information about the GetLocation cmdlet, type GetHelp GetLocation.
