Bash C Style For Loop Example and Syntax

How do I use the bash C style for loop under UNIX or Linux operating systems?

The bash C-style for loop share a common heritage with the C programming language. It is characterized by a three-parameter loop control expression; consisting of an initializer (EXP1), a loop-test or condition (EXP2), and a counting expression (EXP3). The syntax is as follows:

 
for (( EXP1; EXP2; EXP3 ))
do
	shell-command-1
        shell-command-2
done

Bash C-Style Example

#!/bin/bash
# Display message 5 times
for ((i = 0 ; i < 5 ; i++)); do
  echo "Welcome $i times."
done

Sample outputs:

Welcome 0 times.
Welcome 1 times.
Welcome 2 times.
Welcome 3 times.
Welcome 4 times.

Read An Array Using C Style For Loop

Bash provides one-dimensional array variables. An array is created automatically using the following compound assignments syntax:

array=( item1 item2 item3 ... itemN)

You can read an array using for loop as follows:

 
#!/bin/bash
# define an array called fruits
fruits=("Apple" "Mango" "Pineapple" "Banana" "Orange" "Papaya" "Watermelon")
len=${#fruits[*]}         # get total elements in an array
 
# print it
for (( i=0; i<${len}; i++ ));
do
	echo "${fruits[$i]}"
done

Here is another practical example that generates lighttpd web server configuration file to log real IP address of the visitors:

#!/bin/bash
_frontend_proxy_lan_ips=("10.10.29.72" "10.10.29.71" "10.10.29.70" "10.10.29.69" "10.10.29.68")
t="/tmp/lighttpd.backend.conf.$$"
at=${#_frontend_proxy_lan_ips[*]}         # get total elements in an array
s=""
 
echo '### Log real client ips on all backends ###' >"$t"
echo 'server.modules += ( "mod_extforward" )'   >>"$t"
echo 'extforward.headers = ("X-Forwarded-For")' >>"$t"
echo 'extforward.forwarder = (' >>"$t"
 
# For loop 
for (( i=0; i<${at}; i++ ));
do
	[ $i -lt $(( $at - 1 )) ] && s="," || s=""      # remove , for last item in an array
        echo "      \"${_frontend_proxy_lan_ips[$i]}\" => \"trust\"${s} " >>"$t"
done
 
echo ')' >>"$t"
 
# Copy it
cp -f "$t" /etc/lighttpd/
 
# remove temp file
[ -f "$t" ] && rm -f "$t"

Sample outputs (sample config file generated by above script):

 
### Log real client ips on all backends ###
server.modules += ( "mod_extforward" )
extforward.headers = ("X-Forwarded-For")
extforward.forwarder = (
      "10.10.29.72" => "trust",
      "10.10.29.71" => "trust",
      "10.10.29.70" => "trust",
      "10.10.29.69" => "trust",
      "10.10.29.68" => "trust"
)

You should follow me on twitter here or grab rss feed to keep track of new changes.

Featured Articles:

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

1 kmkkmk June 10, 2011 at 3:26 pm

Hi,

I have just stumbled upon this site and like it a lot. Yet when reading Bash I was immediately thinking about Zsh and that I should have switched from to Zsh rather earlier than later. I would hardly put any effort in Bash and spent the time on Zsh instead.

Keep up the good work.

2 Jotne October 10, 2012 at 5:54 am

More simple example of array

GNU nano 2.2.6 File: a Modified

#!/bin/bash
fruits=("Apple" "Mango" "Pineapple" "Banana" "Orange" "Papaya" "Watermelon")
for I in ${fruits[*]}; do
        echo $I
done

Bash C Style For Loop Example and Syntax

Bash C-Style Example

Read An Array Using C Style For Loop

Featured Articles:

Related Faqs