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Need to consolidate files from a folder keeping only the most recent version of a file name by date created

I have a folder that is used to hold several versions of files. The main folder contains many sub-folders all named by date. A particular file can occur in any date folder if it has been revised as it retains the same name. What i need to do is copy out all the files from this folder structure and get only the most recent version of any file by name ignoring by the date of the file as listed in the OS.

oBdA

So you want the latest files from all folders, based on the parent folder's "date name"?
Then we need to know the exact naming format of these subfolders that are named by date.

Andrew Hamilton

ASKER

Based on the date of the file within the folder, not the name of the parent folder containing the file.

oBdA

So just unique file names with the latest LastWriteTime file attribute?
In test mode, will only list the files it would normally copy. Remove the -WhatIf in the last line to run it for real.

$source = 'C:\Temp\Source'
$destination = 'C:\Temp\Target'
Get-ChildItem -Path $Source -Recurse -File |
	Select-Object -Property @{n='Path'; e={$_.FullName}}, Name, LastWriteTime |
	Group-Object -Property Name |
	ForEach-Object {$_.Group | Sort-Object -Property LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 1} |
	Copy-Item -Destination $destination -WhatIf

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Andrew Hamilton

ASKER

This appears to do what it's supposed to except it's not copying the files into the destination folder.

oBdA

See the line with the bold part in the post with the script ...

Andrew Hamilton

ASKER

I did remove the -WhatIf

oBdA

It works just fine here. Does it list the files if you add -Verbose instead of -WhatIf in the last line?

Andrew Hamilton