BASH: how to create a dynamic array name in a loop

here's what I tried:

n=0
for i in aaa bbb ccc; do
  array${i}[$n]=$(date "+%N")
  ((++n))
done
n=0
for i in aaa bbb ccc; do
  echo ${array${i}[$n]}
  ((++n))
done

any ideas how to make the dynamic array name work? thanks a lot!

回答1:

You can use indirect expansion:

#!/bin/bash

# create the arrays
n=0
for i in aaa bbb ccc; do
    let array$i[$n]=$(date "+%N")
    ((++n))
done

# display what we did
n=0
for i in aaa bbb ccc; do
    var=array$i[$n]
    echo ${!var}
    ((++n))
done

Note that this will only create array variables arrayaaa[0], arraybbb[1] and arrayccc[2], and not (as you might expect) arrayaaa[0], arrayaaa[1], arrayaaa[2], arraybbb[0], arraybbb[1], arraybbb[2], arrayccc[0], arrayccc[1], and arrayccc[2].

回答2:

This is how you would create a dynamically named variable (bash version < 4.3).

# Dynamically named array
my_variable_name="dyn_arr_names"
eval $my_variable_name=\(\)

# Adding by index to the array eg. dyn_arr_names[0]="bob"
eval $my_variable_name[0]="bob"

# Adding by pushing onto the array eg. dyn_arr_names+=(robert)
eval $my_variable_name+=\(robert\)

# Print value stored at index indirect
echo ${!my_variable_name[0]}

# Print value stored at index
eval echo \${$my_variable_name[0]}

# Get item count
eval echo \${#$my_variable_name[@]}

Below is a group of functions that can be used to manage dynamically named arrays (bash version < 4.3).

# Dynamically create an array by name
function arr() {
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
     # The following line can be replaced with 'declare -ag $1=\(\)'
     # Note: For some reason when using 'declare -ag $1' without the parentheses will make 'declare -p' fail
    eval $1=\(\)
}

# Insert incrementing by incrementing index eg. array+=(data)
function arr_insert() { 
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -p "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1
    [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && { echo "Bash variable [${1}] doesn't exist" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    eval $1[\$\(\(\${#${1}[@]}\)\)]=\$2
}

# Update an index by position
function arr_set() {
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -p "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1
    [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && { echo "Bash variable [${1}] doesn't exist" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    eval ${1}[${2}]=\${3}
}

# Get the array content ${array[@]}
function arr_get() {
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -p "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1
    [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && { echo "Bash variable [${1}] doesn't exist" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    eval echo \${${1}[@]}
}

# Get the value stored at a specific index eg. ${array[0]}  
function arr_at() {
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -p "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1
    [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && { echo "Bash variable [${1}] doesn't exist" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    [[ ! "$2" =~ ^(0|[-]?[1-9]+[0-9]*)$ ]] && { echo "Array index must be a number" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    local v=$1
    local i=$2
    local max=$(eval echo \${\#${1}[@]})
    # Array has items and index is in range
    if [[ $max -gt 0 && $i -ge 0 && $i -lt $max ]]
    then 
        eval echo \${$v[$i]}
    fi
}

# Get the value stored at a specific index eg. ${array[0]}  
function arr_count() {
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable " 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -p "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1
    [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && { echo "Bash variable [${1}] doesn't exist" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    local v=${1}
    eval echo \${\#${1}[@]}
}



array_names=(bob jane dick)

for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    arr dyn_$name
done

echo "Arrays Created"
declare -a | grep "a dyn_"

# Insert three items per array
for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    echo "Inserting dyn_$name abc"
    arr_insert dyn_$name "abc"
    echo "Inserting dyn_$name def"
    arr_insert dyn_$name "def"
    echo "Inserting dyn_$name ghi"
    arr_insert dyn_$name "ghi"
done

for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    echo "Setting dyn_$name[0]=first"
    arr_set dyn_$name 0 "first"
    echo "Setting dyn_$name[2]=third"
    arr_set dyn_$name 2 "third"
done 

declare -a | grep "a dyn_"

for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    arr_get dyn_$name
done


for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    echo "Dumping dyn_$name by index"
    # Print by index
    for (( i=0 ; i < $(arr_count dyn_$name) ; i++ ))
    do
        echo "dyn_$name[$i]: $(arr_at dyn_$name $i)"

    done
done

for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    echo "Dumping dyn_$name"
    for n in $(arr_get dyn_$name)
    do
        echo $n
    done
done

Below is a group of functions that can be used to manage dynamically named arrays (bash version >= 4.3).

# Dynamically create an array by name
function arr() {
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -g -a $1=\(\)   
}

# Insert incrementing by incrementing index eg. array+=(data)
function arr_insert() { 
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -p "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1
    [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && { echo "Bash variable [${1}] doesn't exist" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -n r=$1
    r[${#r[@]}]=$2
}

# Update an index by position
function arr_set() {
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -p "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1
    [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && { echo "Bash variable [${1}] doesn't exist" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -n r=$1 
    r[$2]=$3
}

# Get the array content ${array[@]}
function arr_get() {
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -p "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1
    [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && { echo "Bash variable [${1}] doesn't exist" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -n r=$1 
    echo ${r[@]}
}

# Get the value stored at a specific index eg. ${array[0]}  
function arr_at() {
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -p "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1
    [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && { echo "Bash variable [${1}] doesn't exist" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    [[ ! "$2" =~ ^(0|[-]?[1-9]+[0-9]*)$ ]] && { echo "Array index must be a number" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -n r=$1 
    local max=${#r[@]}
    # Array has items and index is in range
    if [[ $max -gt 0 && $i -ge 0 && $i -lt $max ]]
    then 
        echo ${r[$2]}
    fi
}

# Get the value stored at a specific index eg. ${array[0]}  
function arr_count() {
    [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[a-zA-Z_]+[a-zA-Z0-9_]*$ ]] && { echo "Invalid bash variable " 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -p "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1
    [[ $? -eq 1 ]] && { echo "Bash variable [${1}] doesn't exist" 1>&2 ; return 1 ; }
    declare -n r=$1
    echo ${#r[@]}
}



array_names=(bob jane dick)

for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    arr dyn_$name
done

echo "Arrays Created"
declare -a | grep "a dyn_"

# Insert three items per array
for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    echo "Inserting dyn_$name abc"
    arr_insert dyn_$name "abc"
    echo "Inserting dyn_$name def"
    arr_insert dyn_$name "def"
    echo "Inserting dyn_$name ghi"
    arr_insert dyn_$name "ghi"
done

for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    echo "Setting dyn_$name[0]=first"
    arr_set dyn_$name 0 "first"
    echo "Setting dyn_$name[2]=third"
    arr_set dyn_$name 2 "third"
done 

declare -a | grep 'a dyn_'

for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    arr_get dyn_$name
done


for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    echo "Dumping dyn_$name by index"
    # Print by index
    for (( i=0 ; i < $(arr_count dyn_$name) ; i++ ))
    do
        echo "dyn_$name[$i]: $(arr_at dyn_$name $i)"

    done
done

for name in "${array_names[@]}"
do
    echo "Dumping dyn_$name"
    for n in $(arr_get dyn_$name)
    do
        echo $n
    done
done

For more details on these examples visit Getting Bashed by Dynamic Arrays by Ludvik Jerabek

回答3:

Take refuge of eval:

n=0
for i in aaa bbb ccc; do
  eval "array${i}[$n]=$(date "+%N")"
  ((++n))
done