CODEWITHSUNDEEP
shellunix
wooden
wooden

Reputation: 153

How to make two variables from one positional parameter?

I need to add two numbers to a positional argument $1 with a dash between them i.e. "15-20". It is an interval from 15 to 20 and it has to be a one positional parameter. I did this:

#!/bin/sh
a=$(echo "$1" | sed 's/-/ /g')
echo $a

It prints: 15 20 I will need this in the future as an interval so I have to take each of these numbers as a seperate variables. Instead of a = 15 20, it should be a = 15 and b = 20. How can I achieve this?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 45

Answers (2)

anubhava
anubhava

Reputation: 786291

Using bash you can use process substitution:

read a b < <(echo "$1" | sed 's/-/ /g')

# and check values
declare -p a b
declare -- a="15"
declare -- b="20"

As the helpful comment from @chepner below, you don't even need sed. You can use read both variables using a custom IFS:

IFS=- read a b <<< "$1"

Upvotes: 3

chepner
chepner

Reputation: 532418

With /bin/sh, use read and a here document.

IFS=- read a b <<EOF
$1
EOF

Or, use parameter expansion twice to drop the prefix/suffix.

a=${1%-*}
b=${1#*-}

Upvotes: 4

Related Questions