How do I store the output from a find command in an array? + bash

Question

I have the following find command with the following output:

$ find -name '*.jpg'
./public_html/github/screencasts-gh-pages/reactiveDataVis/presentation/images/telescope.jpg
./public_html/github/screencasts-gh-pages/introToBackbone/presentation/images/telescope.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/(6)Thin Ice.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Snapshot.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Map_Grass.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/(8)TheHunters.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/(2)Volcanis.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/(3)Trench wars.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/(8)BigGameHunters.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/(8)Turbo.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/(4)Blood Bath.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/(2)Switchback.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Original/(6)Thin Ice.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Original/Map_Grass.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Original/(8)TheHunters.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Original/(2)Volcanis.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Original/(3)Trench wars.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Original/(8)BigGameHunters.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Original/(8)Turbo.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Original/(4)Blood Bath.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Original/(2)Switchback.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/Original/(4)Orbital Relay.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Maps/(4)Orbital Relay.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Bg/GameLose.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Bg/GameWin.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Bg/GameStart.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Bg/GamePlay.jpg
./public_html/github/StarCraft-master/img/Demo/Demo.jpg
./public_html/github/flot/examples/image/hs-2004-27-a-large-web.jpg
./public_html/github/minicourse-ajax-project/other/GameLose.jpg

How do I store this output in an array? I want it to handle filenames with spaces

I have tried this arrayname=($(find -name '*.jpg')) but this just stores the first element. @ I am doing the following which seems to be just the first element?

$ arrayname=($(find -name '*.jpg'))
$ echo "$arrayname"
./public_html/github/screencasts-gh-pages/reactiveDataVis/presentation/images/telescope.jpg
$

I have tried here but again this just stores the 1st element

Other similar Qs
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Works for me. Why do you think you are getting just the 1st element? What code are using to verify it? (Then again, it has a problem where it will split lines that contain space.) — Amadan
– Amadan, Commented Jan 25, 2016 at 1:39
I am doing an echo on that array and it is just showing the 1st element, can you correct my ways, see my edited Q — HattrickNZ
– HattrickNZ, Commented Jan 25, 2016 at 1:51
If you are doing echo $arrayname, that shows the first element. If you are doing echo "${arrayname[@]}", it shows the whole array. — Amadan
– Amadan, Commented Jan 25, 2016 at 1:52
With work, yes. Automatically, no. Use Ruby or another nice scripting language if you want convenience. — Amadan
– Amadan, Commented Jan 25, 2016 at 1:59

glenn jackman · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-25 01:54:56Z

3

If you know with certainty that your filenames will not contain newlines, then

mapfile -t arrayname < <(find ...)

If you want to be able to handle any file

arrayname=()
while IFS= read -d '' -r filename; do
    arrayname+=("$filename")
done < <(find ... -print0)

echo "$arrayname" will only show the first element of the array. It is equivalent to echo "${arrayname[0]}". To dump an array:

printf "%s\n" "${arrayname[@]}"
# ............^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ must use exactly this form, with the quotes.

arrayname=($(find ...)) is still wrong. It will store the file ./file with spaces.txt as 3 separate elements in the array.

edited Jan 25, 2016 at 1:54

answered Jan 25, 2016 at 1:51

glenn jackman

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2 Comments

HattrickNZ Over a year ago

tried that

$ arrayname=() $ while IFS= read -d '' -r filename; do >     arrayname+=("$filename") > done < <(find '*.jpg' -print0) find:

*.jpg': No such file or directory $` and got this error find: *.jpg': No such file or directory`

Rany Albeg Wein Over a year ago

@glennjackman That's a great answer. May I also add this one while read -rd '';do arr[i++]=$REPLY;done < <(find . -name '*.jpg' -print0) , executable in Bash.

rici · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-25 03:44:04Z

2

If you have a sufficiently recent version of bash, you can save yourself a lot of trouble by just using a ** glob.

shopt -s globstar
files=(**/*.jpg)

The first line enables the feature. Once enabled, ** in a glob pattern will match any number (including 0) of directories in the path.

Using the glob in the array definition makes sure that whitespace is handled correctly.

To view an array in a form which could be used to define the array, use the -p (print) option to the declare builtin:

declare -p files

answered Jan 25, 2016 at 3:44

rici

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2 Comments

glenn jackman Over a year ago

very good. I just answered the question but this solves the problem.

glenn jackman Over a year ago

Whenever I enable globstar I also use nullglob

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