How to pick the first element of a list in powershell keeping auto-complete?

Question

This is the command I am invoking:

Get-ChildItem | where -Property name -like *asda* | select -first 1 | $_.Name

Obviously this call at the end doesn't work because the $_ only works for iterable loops. But I want to pick that element of the list and turn it into a object where I can call auto complete (ctrl + space).

How can I achieve that in Powershell?

Answer 1

Do you try ?

(Get-ChildItem | where -Property name -like *asda* | select -first 1).Name

Answer 2

JPBlanc's answer is effective, but let me dig a little deeper:

For a streaming solution - where each object being emitted by Get-ChildItem is processed one by one, as it is being emitted - use a ForEach-Object call with the same simplified syntax you're using with the Where-Object (where) cmdlet:

Get-ChildItem |
  Where-Object -Property Name -like *asda* | 
    Select-Object -First 1 |
      ForEach-Object -MemberName Name

Note: Alternatively, you could use Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name.

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For a more concise solution - which involves collecting all Get-ChildItem output up front - use the following:

((Get-ChildItem).Name -like '*asda*')[0]