CODEWITHSUNDEEP
bash
I0_ol
I0_ol

Reputation: 1109

How to assign multiple bash variables from user input

Using read -p "ENTER 1 - 5 WORDS" v1 v2 v3 v4 v5 allows me to assign value to each of the variables v by typing them on the command line. Is this the most practical approach? Suppose I wanted to assign a larger number of variables. Would I list each of them in this same way? I have tried read -p "ENTER 1-20 WORDS" {v1..v20} which didn't work.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 768

Answers (2)

Benjamin W.
Benjamin W.

Reputation: 52142

You might want to read into an array with read -a:

$ read -a arr -p "Enter words: "
Enter words: v1 v2 v3 v4 v5
$ echo "${arr[@]}"
v1 v2 v3 v4 v5
$ read -a arr -p "Enter words: "
Enter words: v1 v2 v3 v4 v5 v6 v7 v8 v9 v10
$ echo "${arr[@]}"
v1 v2 v3 v4 v5 v6 v7 v8 v9 v10

This uses shell word splitting and assigns the input to the array arr, elements of which can then be accessed using ${arr[0]}, ${arr[1]} etc.

The main advantage is that the array holds exactly as many elements as you entered and you don't have to know in advance how many there will be.

Upvotes: 1

SLePort
SLePort

Reputation: 15461

v is not part of the sequence. Try this :

read -p "ENTER 1-20 WORDS" v{1..20}

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions