When an error is raised in PowerShell, an ErrorRecord object is created (explicitly or implicitly).

An ErrorRecord object contains a number of fields that are useful for diagnosing an error. An ErrorRecord can be explored using Get-Member. For example, an ErrorRecord will be generated when attempting to divide by 0:

100 / 0 
$record = $Error[0] 

The ErrorRecord that was generated includes a ScriptStackTrace:

PS> $record.ScriptStackTrace
at <ScriptBlock>, <No file>: line 1
As well as a .NET stack trace:
PS> $record.Exception.StackTrace
at System.Management.Automation.IntOps.Divide(Int32 lhs, Int32 rhs)
at System.Dynamic.UpdateDelegates.UpdateAndExecute2[T0,T1,TRet](CallSite site, T0 arg0, T1 arg1)
at System.Management.Automation.Interpreter.DynamicInstruction`3.Run(InterpretedFrame frame)
at System.Management.Automation.Interpreter.EnterTryCatchFinallyInstruction.Run(InterpretedFrame frame)

In some cases, the TargetObject property of an ErrorRecord might contain the object being worked on.

For example, if the values for a division operation were dynamically set, an ErrorRecord might be created to return those values to assist with debugging:

$numerator = 10 
$denominator = 0 
try { 
    $numerator / $denominator 
} catch { 
    $errorRecord = New-Object Management.Automation.ErrorRecord( 
        (New-Object Exception($_.Exception.Message)), 
        'InvalidDivision',   # ErrorId 
'InvalidOperation',  # ErrorCategory 
        ([PSCustomObject]@{  # TargetObject 
            Numerator   = $numerator 
            Denominator = $denominator 
        }) 
    ) 
    Write-Error -ErrorRecord $errorRecord 
} 

The values pushed into the ErrorRecord may be viewed by exploring the TargetObject property:

PS> $Error[0].TargetObject
Numerator     Denominator
---------     -----------
       10               0

The try-catch statement used previously is covered in detail later in this chapter.