create and loop through arrays of folders in shell

Question

Please feel free to rename the question to something more appropriate.

How would I mimic the below zsh using bash instead?

mkdir folder1
mkdir folder2
mkdir folder3

# zsh

folders=(folder*) | print $folders
#folder1 folder2 folder3

# bash

folders=(folder*/) | echo $folders
#folder1

As you can see, this only outputs the first element.

Any pointers would be appreciated, thanks.

Are your folders in the same directory ?

z atef
– z atef

2014-02-28 16:58:33 +00:00
Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 16:58 — z atef
– z atef, Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 16:58
Thanks for commenting. Yes they are.

jO.
– jO.

2014-02-28 17:00:47 +00:00
Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 17:00 — jO.
– jO., Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 17:00

Abhishek Bansal · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-28 17:06:33Z

4

Try changing it to:

folders=(folder*); echo "${folders[@]}"

folders[@] gives all the elements in the array
${} expands the output from above command to bash.

edited Feb 28, 2014 at 17:06

answered Feb 28, 2014 at 16:57

Abhishek Bansal

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2 Comments

Abhishek Bansal Over a year ago

@jO It works if you separate the echo to a different line, or if you add a semicolon between the commands instead of a pipe.

Dan Bliss Over a year ago

This works as-is for me. Just copy and paste. @jO, your use of the pipe operator is incorrect in bash, it is probably part of your problem. This answer correctly uses semicolon.

z atef · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-28 18:52:54Z

0

If lets say, you have multiple .txt file in some Directory and you want to get/display those folders . you can try something like this:

declare -a folder_arr
i=0


for dir in *.txt; do

folder_arr[i]=$dir
i=$((i+1))
done

for j in $(seq 0 $((i-1)))
do
echo ${folder_arr[$j]}
done

I excuted the above file and was able to get the expected reult.

   /temps$ ./dirrr.sh
    z.txt

edited Feb 28, 2014 at 18:52

answered Feb 28, 2014 at 17:01

z atef

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2 Comments

chepner Over a year ago

Do not iterate over the output of find like this. See this bash pitfall for details.

z atef Over a year ago

Hey @chepner Thanks for the feedback. You are right....I didnt have access to a linux machine earlier to try it...but, know I do. I have fixed it as per the "this bash pitfall" and now it work fine..... TAKE A BOW :)

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