User input to specify array name [bash]

Question

I just started learning bash/shell for fun, and I'm trying to create a simple script that should take user input, which should be the name of a pre-built array, and then say each item in that array with a pause in between.

Here's what I have so far:

#!/bin/sh
array=("foo" "bar" "baz")

read -p "Which array should I read to you? " answer

for item in ${answer[@]}
do
    say "$item [[slnc 1000]]"
done

Please let me know if you can point me in the right direction!

I tried it and it was working (mac env). with pause inclided — AdrieanKhisbe
– AdrieanKhisbe, Commented Apr 23, 2015 at 6:14
Did you save it as a file? What extension did you use? How did you run it? Any details will be helpful. Also, what happens if you add spaces into any of the array values - does it still work then? — Jesse Dupuy
– Jesse Dupuy, Commented Apr 23, 2015 at 6:37

anubhava · Accepted Answer · 2015-04-23 07:42:57Z

1

You can access array using a variable array name like this:

#!/bin/bash

array=("foo" "bar" "baz")
read -p "Which array should I read to you? " answer

tmp="$answer"[@];

for item in "${!tmp}"; do
    echo "$item [[slnc 1000]]"
done

Then use above script as:

bash arr.sh
Which array should I read to you? array
foo [[slnc 1000]]
bar [[slnc 1000]]
baz [[slnc 1000]]

answered Apr 23, 2015 at 7:42

anubhava

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1 Comment

Jesse Dupuy Over a year ago

Thanks so much anubhava, I had a feeling there was a transitional step I was missing somewhere, and now I learned something new!

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