bash for loop, strings with spaces

I will provide a script that reads file line by line; each line is an array and will iterate over value by value over an array. Hope it helps.

file.txt

ob_No  ob_kind  ob_value  ob_lat   ob_lon   ob_depth  ob_time   
1      S        36.045    44.1432  12.5701  1.6       201303210000  

Script

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# author    : Daniel Leybovich
# SO        : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27981928/bash-for-loop-strings-with-spaces

FILE=${1}

while read LINE
do
    declare -a ROW

    ROW=($(echo ${LINE}))
    COLS=${#ROW[@]}

    echo "LINE    : .... ${LINE}"
    echo "COLS NUM: .... ${COLS}"
    echo "----------------------"
    echo "value by value:       "

    for INDEX in $(seq 0 $((COLS - 1)))
    do
        echo -e "\tCOL[${INDEX}] = ${ROW[${INDEX}]}"
    done

    echo '========================================='

done < ${FILE}

exit 0

Output

daniel@synapse:/tmp$ ./so27981928.sh file.txt
LINE    : .... ob_No  ob_kind  ob_value  ob_lat   ob_lon   ob_depth  ob_time
COLS NUM: .... 7
----------------------
value by value:   
    COL[0] = ob_No
    COL[1] = ob_kind
    COL[2] = ob_value
    COL[3] = ob_lat
    COL[4] = ob_lon
    COL[5] = ob_depth
    COL[6] = ob_time
=========================================
LINE    : .... 1      S        36.045    44.1432  12.5701  1.6       201303210000
COLS NUM: .... 7
----------------------
value by value:   
    COL[0] = 1
    COL[1] = S
    COL[2] = 36.045
    COL[3] = 44.1432
    COL[4] = 12.5701
    COL[5] = 1.6
    COL[6] = 201303210000
=========================================

EDIT [minor script improvements]

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# author        : Daniel Leybovich

# create a temporary file
TABLE=$(mktemp)

# populate file with tabular data
cat << EOF >> ${TABLE}
col1    col2    col3    col4
[0,0]   [0,1]   [0,2]   [0,3]
[1,0]   [1,1]   [1,2]   [1,3]
EOF

# count line numbers
declare -i LN=0

# iterate over matrix rows 
while read LINE; do
    echo "-------------------------------------------------------------------"

    declare -a ROW

    ROW=(${LINE})
    COLS=${#ROW[@]}

    echo "LINE NO# ....... ${LN}"
    echo "COLUMNS  ....... ${LINE}"
    echo "COLUMNS NUM .... ${COLS}"

    # iterate over values
    for INDEX in $(seq 0 $((COLS - 1)));do
        echo -e "\tCOL[${INDEX}] = ${ROW[${INDEX}]}"
    done

    # increment line counter
    let LN=$((LN + 1))

done < ${TABLE}

# clean up
rm -rf ${TABLE}

# we are done
exit 0

OUTPUT

daniel@synapse:/tmp$ ./arrays_2d.sh
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LINE NO# ....... 0
COLUMNS  ....... col1    col2    col3    col4
COLUMNS NUM .... 4
    COL[0] = col1
    COL[1] = col2
    COL[2] = col3
    COL[3] = col4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LINE NO# ....... 1
COLUMNS  ....... [0,0]   [0,1]   [0,2]   [0,3]
COLUMNS NUM .... 4
    COL[0] = [0,0]
    COL[1] = [0,1]
    COL[2] = [0,2]
    COL[3] = [0,3]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LINE NO# ....... 2
COLUMNS  ....... [1,0]   [1,1]   [1,2]   [1,3]
COLUMNS NUM .... 4
    COL[0] = [1,0]
    COL[1] = [1,1]
    COL[2] = [1,2]
    COL[3] = [1,3]

I don't see a question in there at all.

Some code review:

for  oline in ${ArrayObs[@]};do

quotes missing: need "${ArrayObs[@]}"

  valuesMO=`echo ${oline}`

Same as valuesMO=$oline except the whitespace is squeezed. Is that your intention?

  varDP=`echo ${oline} | awk '{print $6}'`
     if [ "${ArrayObs[0]}" == "$oline" ]; then
      echo -e " first time"
      awk '{printf ("%.3f\n", $6)}' valuesMO > MkDepth

Do you have a file named valuesMO? You're missing a $

    else
      echo -e " not the first time"
      awk '{printf ("%.3f\n", $6)}' valuesMO >> MkDepth
    fi
  done

You don't need the if statement. Put the redirect after the for loop to capture all its output. Like this:

for x in ...; do
    echo $x
done > MkDepth