How can we store values getting from user in array in shell/bash scripts?

Question

I have some input element and i want to store them in array . I don't no the limit of element .

Suppose the elements are like 

one
two
three
four
five
six

The input size can be different.

i tried it like

declare -a array 

read -a array

echo ${array[@]}

but it only print first element. How can i print all values ?

I finally solve it

#!/bin/bash
# your code goes here
declare -a array
i=0
while read -r input; do
    array[$i]=$input
    ((i++))
done

echo ${array[@]}

I just test your code and works for me: xxx@rosseta:/tmp$ read -a array one true three xxx@rosseta:/tmp$ echo ${array[@]} one true three xxx@rosseta:/tmp$ echo ${array[2]} three — Diego Alvarez
– Diego Alvarez, Commented Feb 27, 2015 at 13:09
How are you inputting the values to read? read -a splits a single line into an array it doesn't read multiple lines. — Etan Reisner
– Etan Reisner, Commented Feb 27, 2015 at 13:11
mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/001 is probably of some use here. — Etan Reisner
– Etan Reisner, Commented Feb 27, 2015 at 13:12
Also mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/005 and in particular the mapfile hint if you have Bash 4. — tripleee
– tripleee, Commented Feb 27, 2015 at 13:26

sachin · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-02 22:48:59Z

1

Try this. It works for me

declare -a array
i=0
while read -r input; do
    array[$i]=$input
    ((i++))
done

echo ${array[@]}

answered Aug 2, 2015 at 22:48

sachin

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Comments

asimovwasright · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-27 14:09:40Z

1

Doing it this wat will allow you to simply add the array as arguments.

#!/bin/bash

while [ "$1" != "" ]
do
        array+=("$1")
        shift
done

echo "${array[@]}"
exit

answered Feb 27, 2015 at 13:50

asimovwasright

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No need for the count just use array+=("$1") to append.

very tidy! I had forgotten about that :-)