Using a recursive function beside a workflow

Question

I have a PowerShell script whose purpose is to get a list of files then do some work on each file.

The list of files is generated by a recursive function like this:

function Recurse($path)
{
    .. create $folder

    foreach ($i in $folder.files) { 
        $i
    }
    foreach ($i in $folder.subfolders) {
        Recurse($i.path)
    }
}

Separate from this function i do a workflow that takes a list of files and do the work (in parallel) on each file. The code looks something like this:

workflow Do-Work {
    param(
        [parameter(mandatory)][object[]]$list
    )
    foreach -parallel ($f in $list) {
        inlinescript {
            .. do work on $Using:f
        }
    }
}

These two parts are then combined with the following logic:

$myList = Recurse($myPath)
Do-Work -list $myList

The problem is that this generates an error:

A workflow cannot use recursion.
    + CategoryInfo          : ParserError: (:) [], ParseException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : RecursiveWorkflowNotSupported

Why is this happening when the recursive function and the workflow is separate? Is there any way to work around this issue?

Answer 1

Recursive calling is not permitted in workflows.

Give your path directly:

Instead of this:

Recurse($myPath)

do this:

Recurse $myPath

You can refer to this article:

Adding Nested functions and Nested Workflows