Bash arrays are a lot like Bash Associative Arrays, but with numbers as keys.
Here's a quick reference.
Bash Associative Arrays
Basics
$ declare -a MYARR # Create an array
$ MYARR[3]=foo # Put a value into an array
$ echo ${MYARR[3]} # Get a value out of an array
foo
$ echo MYARR[3] # WRONG
MYARR[0]
$ echo $MYARR[3]] # WRONG
[3]
Creating, adding
$ declare -a MYARR # Explicitly declare
$ MYARR[3]=foo # Or this line implicitly makes it an array
$ MYARR[4]=bar # Can add values one by one
$ declare -a MYARR=(a b c) # Initialise all at once
$ echo ${MYARR[0]}
a
$ echo ${MYARR[1]}
b
$ echo ${MYARR[2]}
c
$ declare -a MYARR # Or declare separately
$ MYARR=(a b c) # Then initialise
$ echo ${MYARR[0]}
a
$ echo ${MYARR[1]}
b
$ echo ${MYARR[2]}
c
$ declare -a MYARR=(a b c)
$ MYARR=("${MYARR[@]}" d) # Add an element
$ echo ${MYARR[@]}
a b c d
$ declare -a MYARR2=(e f g)
$ MYARR=("${MYARR[@]}" "${MYARR2[@]}") # Concatenate arrays
$ echo ${MYARR[@]}
a b c d e f g
Keys/Indices
$ declare -a MYARR
$ MYARR[3]=foo
$ echo ${MYARR[0]} # Unassigned values are empty
$ echo ${MYARR[4]} # Unassigned values are empty
$ MYARR[seven]=bar # A text index is treated as 0
$ echo ${MYARR[0]}
bar
$ echo ${MYARR[seven]} # A text index is treated as 0
bar
$ K=3
$ MYARR[$K]=baz # Variables containing numbers work like numbers
$ echo ${MYARR[$K]}
baz
$ echo ${MYARR[3]} # Obviously the value is accessible via the actual index
baz
$ K=foo
$ MYARR[$K]=bash # Variables containing text are treated as 0
$ echo ${MYARR[0]}
bash
Length
$ declare -a MYARR=(a b c)
$ echo ${#MYARR[@]} # Length of an array
3
$ echo $#MYARR[@] # WRONG
0MYARR[@]
$ echo ${#MYARR} # WRONG
1
$ MYARR[7]=x
$ echo ${#MYARR[@]} # Only existing indices count in the length
4
$ declare -a MYARR=(a bb ccc)
$ echo ${#MYARR[0]} # Length of an individual element
1
$ echo ${#MYARR[1]}
2
$ echo ${#MYARR[2]}
3
Looping
$ declare -a MYARR=("a 1" b c)
$ # Loop through array values
$ for V in "${MYARR[@]}"; do echo $V; done
a 1
b
c
$ for V in ${MYARR[@]}; do echo $V; done #WRONG
a
1
b
c
$ echo "${!MYARR[@]}" # Print all indices - quoted, but quotes removed by echo
0 1 2
$ echo "${MYARR[@]}" # Print all values - quoted, but quotes removed by echo
a 1 b c
Clearing
$ declare -a MYARR
$ MYARR[3]=x
$ echo ${MYARR[3]}
x
$ unset MYARR
$ declare -a MYARR
$ echo ${MYARR[3]}
Deleting
$ MYARR[2]=foo
$ echo ${MYARR[2]}
foo
$ unset ${MYARR[2]} # WRONG
$ echo ${MYARR[2]}
foo
$ unset MYARR[2] # To delete from an array, use "unset" with similar syntax to assigning
$ echo ${MYARR[2]}
$ MYARR[3]=quux
$ echo ${MYARR[3]}
quux
$ K=3
$ unset MYARR[$K] # Can unset using a variable for the key too
$ echo ${MYARR[3]}
$ declare -a MYARR=(a b c d e f)
$ MYARR=("${MYARR[@]:0:3}" "${MYARR[@]:4}") # Remove element 3, leaving no gap
$ echo ${MYARR[@]}
Cool stuff
$ declare -a MYARR=(a b c d e f g)
$ echo ${MYARR[@]:2:3} # Extract a sub-array
c d e
$ declare -a MYARR=(a b c d e f g)
$ echo ${MYARR[@]/d/FOO} # Replace elements that match
a b c FOO e f g
Scope
$ unset MYARR
$ function createmap() { MYARR[5]=bar; } # Implicit creation puts it in the global scope
$ echo ${MYARR[5]}
$ createmap
$ echo ${MYARR[5]}
bar
$ unset MYARR
$ function createmaplocal() { declare -a MYARR; MYARR[3]=bar; } # Explicit creation puts it in the local scope
$ echo ${MYARR[3]}
$ createmaplocal
$ echo ${MYARR[3]}
Links
- Bash manual: Arrays
- Bash Array Tutorial
- Bash Hackers Wiki
- Linux Journal
- Superuser: Test if element is in array in Bash
Bash manual: Arrays
Bash Array Tutorial
Bash Hackers Wiki
Linux Journal
Superuser: Test if element is in array in Bash
Originally posted at 2013-09-18 12:45:21+00:00. Automatically generated from the original post : apologies for the errors introduced.
original post