Bash For Loop Array: Iterate Through Array Values

by Vivek Gite on April 13, 2008 · 3 comments

How do I use bash for loop to iterate thought array values under UNIX / Linux operating systems?

The Bash provides one-dimensional array variables. Any variable may be used as an array; the declare builtin will explicitly declare an array. There is no maximum limit on the size of an array, nor any requirement that members be indexed or assigned contiguously. Arrays are indexed using integers and are zero-based.

To declare an array in bash

Declare and an array called array and assign three values:

array=( one two three )

More examples:

files=( "/etc/passwd" "/etc/group" "/etc/hosts" )
limits=( 10, 20, 26, 39, 48)

To print an array use:

printf "%s\n" "${array[@]}"
printf "%s\n" "${files[@]}"
printf "%s\n" "${limits[@]}"

To Iterate Through Array Values

Use for loop syntax as follows:

for i in "${arrayName[@]}"
do
   :
   # do whatever on $i
done

$i will hold each item in an array. Here is a sample working script:

#!/bin/bash
# declare an array called array and define 3 vales
array=( one two three )
for i in "${array[@]}"
do
	echo $i
done

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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Peter March 6, 2009

Defining the array with double parentheses gave me an error. Using single parentheses did not and worked just fine. This tip mixes them, showing double parentheses at the top, but then using single parentheses in the for loop.

Reply

2 alok August 10, 2009

HI
Want to know , how to create a Two dimension array in bash and print all in one go.
eg like in one dimension array,
echo ${array[@]}
What for two dimension array ??

Thanks in advance…

Reply

3 Ziad November 24, 2011

The double quotes are not necessary around ${array[@]}. This expression gets evaluated properly anyway.

Reply

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