Note: Applies to Linux and macOS, not Windows.
In most contexts, a symlink to a directory should be treated as a directory.
Get-ChildItem on Unix platform currently treats directory symlinks as files, and therefore doesn't show their contents.
Steps to reproduce (run on a Unix platform)
# Create symlink 'tmpl' to directory '/tmp' in the current dir.
ln -s /tmp tmpl
# Pass the directory symlink to Get-ChildItem
Get-ChildItem tmpl
Expected behavior
A listing of the contents of directory /tmp
Actual behavior
Something like the following is output; i.e., information about the symlink itself, not its target's contents:
Directory: /Users/jdoe
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d----l 5/7/17 2:35 PM tmpl
Environment data
PowerShell Core v6.0.0-alpha (v6.0.0-alpha.18) on macOS 10.12.4
Note: Applies to Linux and macOS, not Windows.
In most contexts, a symlink to a directory should be treated as a directory.
Get-ChildItemon Unix platform currently treats directory symlinks as files, and therefore doesn't show their contents.Steps to reproduce (run on a Unix platform)
Expected behavior
A listing of the contents of directory
/tmpActual behavior
Something like the following is output; i.e., information about the symlink itself, not its target's contents:
Environment data