Variable in variablenames - bash

i have a a couple of variables with a number in its names. e.g
SERVER_IP48_SUBNET
..
SERVER_IP60_SUBNET
And an additional variable
SERVER_IP
Im trying to expand/concatenate them in the following way:
ALLIPs=${SERVER_IP}
for i in {48..64}; do
ALLIPs=${ALLIPs},${SERVER_IP${i}_SUBNET}
done
as you can imagine this script fails saying:
Wrong substitution
Does anybody of you know a good solution for this problem?
Thanks so far

Use a nameref with bash version 4.3 +
ALLIPs=${SERVER_IP}
for i in {48..64}; do
declare -n tmp="SERVER_IP${i}_SUBNET"
ALLIPs+=",$tmp"
done
But you should really be using an array in the first place:
server_ip=0.0.0.0
subnet_ip=(
[48]=1.1.1.1
[49]=2.2.2.2
# ...
[64]=16.16.16.16
)
all_ips=( "$server_ip" )
for i in {48..64}; do
all_ips+=( "${subnet_ip[i]}" )
done
(
IFS=,
echo "ALLIPs = ${all_ips[*]}"
)
Get out of the habit of using ALLCAPS variable names, leave those as
reserved by the shell. One day you'll write PATH=something and then
wonder why
your script is broken.
I just noticed, if you just want a to join the IP addresses with commas, and you're using an array, you don't need a loop at all:
all_ips=$(
IFS=,
set -- "$server_ip" "${subnet_ip[#]}"
echo "$*"
)

You can use ${!varprefix#} or ${!varprefix*} to expand to all variables with that common prefix (the difference is the same as $# and $*):
SERVER_IP48_SUBNET=48sub
SERVER_IP49_SUBNET=49sub
SERVER_IP50_SUBNET=50sub
SERVER_IP=1.2.3.4
# set this as empty since !SERVER_IP# also matches SERVER_IP
ALLIPS=""
for var in "${!SERVER_IP#}"; do
ALLIPS=$ALLIPS,${!var}
done
This would probably be more practical if you could invert the names like this, since we can only match prefixes:
SERVER_IP_SUBNET_48=48sub
SERVER_IP_SUBNET_49=49sub
SERVER_IP_SUBNET_50=50sub
SERVER_IP=1.2.3.4
ALLIPS=$SERVER_IP
for var in "${!SERVER_IP_SUBNET_#}"; do
ALLIPS=$ALLIPS,${!var}
done
More info on this feature in the bash manual.

One idea:
SERVER_IP48_SUBNET=48sub
SERVER_IP49_SUBNET=49sub
SERVER_IP50_SUBNET=50sub
SERVER_IP=1.2.3.4
ALLIPs=${SERVER_IP}
for i in {48..50}
do
tmpvar="SERVER_IP${i}_SUBNET" # build the variable name
ALLIPs="${ALLIPs},${!tmpvar}" # indirect variable reference via tmpvar
done
echo "ALLIPs = $ALLIPs}"
This generates:
ALLIPs = 1.2.3.4,48sub,49sub,50sub

Related

Change name of Variable while in a loop

I have this idea in mind:
I have this number: CN=20
and a list=( "xa1-" "xa2-" "xb1-" "xb2-")
and this is my script:
for a in "${list[#]}"; do
let "CN=$(($CN+1))"
echo $CN
Output:
21
22
23
24
I am trying to create a loop where it creates the following variables, which will be referenced later in my script:
fxp0_$CN="fxp-$a$CN"
fxp0_21="fxp-xa1-21"
fxp0_22="fxp-xa2-22"
fxp0_23="fxp-xb1-23"
fxp0_24="fxp-xb2-24"
However, I have not been able to find a way to change the variable name within my loop. Instead, I was trying myself and I got this error when trying to change the variable name:
scripts/srx_file_check.sh: line 317: fxp0_21=fxp0-xa2-21: command not found
After playing around I found the solution!
for a in "${list[#]}"; do
let "CN=$(($CN+1))"
fxp_int="fxp0-$a$CN"
eval "fxp0_$CN=${fxp_int}"
done
echo $fxp0_21
echo $fxp0_22
echo $fxp0_23
echo $fxp0_24
echo $fxp0_25
echo $fxp0_26
echo $fxp0_27
echo $fxp0_28
Output:
fxp0-xa1-21
fxp0-xa2-22
fxp0-xb1-23
fxp0-xb2-24
fxp0-xc1-25
fxp0-xc2-26
fxp0-xd1-27
fxp0-xd2-28
One common method for maintaining a dynamically generated set of variables is via arrays.
When the variable names vary in spelling an associative array comes in handy whereby the variable 'name' acts as the array index.
In this case since the only thing changing in the variable names is a number we can use a normal (numerically indexed) array, eg:
CN=20
list=("xa1-" "xa2-" "xb1-" "xb2-")
declare -a fxp0=()
for a in "${list[#]}"
do
(( CN++ ))
fxp0[${CN}]="fxp-${a}${CN}"
done
This generates:
$ declare -p fxp0
declare -a fxp0=([21]="fxp-xa1-21" [22]="fxp-xa2-22" [23]="fxp-xb1-23" [24]="fxp-xb2-24")
$ for i in "${!fxp0[#]}"; do echo "fxp0[$i] = ${fxp0[$i]}"; done
fxp0[21] = fxp-xa1-21
fxp0[22] = fxp-xa2-22
fxp0[23] = fxp-xb1-23
fxp0[24] = fxp-xb2-24
As a general rule can I tell you that it's not a good idea to modify names of variables within loops.
There is, however, a way to do something like that, using the source command, as explained in this URL with some examples. It comes down to the fact that you treat a file as a piece of source code.
Good luck

Bash create a path with variables divided by _ and check if exist

In Bash, I am trying to create a path with two variables within:
/path/to/my/file/${variable1_-}${variable2}/Still/some/path
My variable2 is always set, but the variable1 might be empty and in that case I don't want to print the "_"
I have tried the line above, but doesn't seem to be correct.
Can someone help in getting the right path printed?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
You have a simple typo (the underscore should be after the separator, not part of the variable name) and you want to include the underscore if variable1 is set, not it it's unset (so plus instead of minus in the parameter expansion; and add a colon to also cover the set but empty case). Presumably you also want to include the actual value of variable1 when it's set.
/path/to/my/file/${variable1}${variable1:+_}${variable2}/Still/some/path
or equivalently, nested
/path/to/my/file/${variable1:+${variable1}_}${variable2}/Still/some/path
where the braces before the underscore are necessary to separate the variable name from the literal text.
You can use this.
https://linux.die.net/man/1/bash
${parameter:+word}
set also variable1
variable1=VAR1
variable2=VAR2
variable3=${variable1:+_}
echo /path/to/my/file/${variable1}${variable3}${variable2}/Still/some/path
set only variable2
variable1=
variable2=VAR2
variable3=${variable1:+_}
echo /path/to/my/file/${variable1}${variable3}${variable2}/Still/some/path
With a few more lines of code this could work:
run () {
prefix="" # empty
if [ -n "$variable1" ]; then
prefix="${variable1}_"
fi
echo "/path/to/my/file/${prefix}${variable2}/Still/some/path"
}
# set only variable2
variable2=var2
run
# set also variable1
variable1=var1
run
output:
/path/to/my/file/var2/Still/some/path
/path/to/my/file/var1_var2/Still/some/path
description:
-n tests if the string is not empty, in that case I fill prefix with variable1 and the underscore

Conditional on non-instantiated variable

I am new to Bash scripting, having a lot more experience with C-type languages. I have written a few scripts with a conditional that checks the value of a non-instantiated variable and if it doesn't exist or match a value sets the variable. On top of that the whole thing is in a for loop. Something like this:
for i in ${!my_array[#]}; do
if [ "${my_array[i]}" = true ]
then
#do something
else
my_array[i]=true;
fi
done
This would fail through a null pointer in Java since my_array[i] is not instantiated until after it is checked. Is this good practice in Bash? My script is working the way I designed, but I have learned that just because a kluge works now doesn't mean it will work in the future.
Thanks!
You will find this page on parameter expansion helpful, as well as this one on conditionals.
An easy way to test a variable is to check it for nonzero length.
if [[ -n "$var" ]]
then : do stuff ...
I also like to make it fatal to access a nonexisting variable; this means extra work, but better safety.
set -u # unset vars are fatal to access without exception handling
if [[ -n "${var:-}" ]] # handles unset during check
then : do stuff ...
By default, referencing undefined (or "unset") variable names in shell scripts just gives the empty string. But is an exception: if the shell is run with the -u option or set -u has been run in it, expansions of unset variables are treated as errors and (if the shell is not interactive) cause the shell to exit. Bash applies this principle to array elements as well:
$ array=(zero one two)
$ echo "${array[3]}"
$ echo "array[3] = '${array[3]}'"
array[3] = ''
$ set -u
$ echo "array[3] = '${array[3]}'"
-bash: array[3]: unbound variable
There are also modifiers you can use to control what expansions do if a variable (or array element) is undefined and/or empty (defined as the empty string):
$ array=(zero one '')
$ echo "array[2] is ${array[2]-unset}, array[3] is ${array[3]-unset}"
array[2] is , array[3] is unset
$ echo "array[2] is ${array[2]:-unset or empty}, array[3] is ${array[3]:-unset or empty}"
array[2] is unset or empty, array[3] is unset or empty
There are a bunch of other variants, see the POSIX shell syntax standard, section 2.6.2 (Parameter Expansion).
BTW, you do need to use curly braces (as I did above) around anything other than a plain variable reference. $name[2] is a reference to the plain variable name (or element 0 if it's an array), followed by the string "[2]"; ${name[2]}, on the other hand, is a reference to element 2 of the array name. Also, you pretty much always want to wrap variable references in double-quotes (or include them in double-quoted strings), to prevent the shell from "helpfully" splitting them into words and/or expanding them into lists of matching files. For example, this test:
if [ $my_array[i] = true ]
is (mostly) equivalent to:
if [ ${my_array[0]}[i] = true ]
...which isn't what you want at all. But this one:
if [ ${my_array[i]} = true ]
still doesn't work, because if my_array[i] is unset (or empty) it'll expand to the equivalent of:
if [ = true ]
...which is bad test expression syntax. You want this:
if [ "${my_array[i]}" = true ]

Iterating over variable name in bash script

I needed to run a script over a bunch of files, which paths were assigned to train1, train2, ... , train20, and I thought 'why not make it automatic with a bash script?'.
So I did something like:
train1=path/to/first/file
train2=path/to/second/file
...
train20=path/to/third/file
for i in {1..20}
do
python something.py train$i
done
which didn't work because train$i echoes train1's name, but not its value.
So I tried unsuccessfully things like $(train$i) or ${train$i} or ${!train$i}.
Does anyone know how to catch the correct value of these variables?
Use an array.
Bash does have variable indirection, so you can say
for varname in train{1..20}
do
python something.py "${!varname}"
done
The ! introduces the indirection, so "get the value of the variable named by the value of varname"
But use an array. You can make the definition very readable:
trains=(
path/to/first/file
path/to/second/file
...
path/to/third/file
)
Note that this array's first index is at position zero, so:
for ((i=0; i<${#trains[#]}; i++)); do
echo "train $i is ${trains[$i]}"
done
or
for idx in "${!trains[#]}"; do
echo "train $idx is ${trains[$idx]}"
done
You can use array:
train[1]=path/to/first/file
train[2]=path/to/second/file
...
train[20]=path/to/third/file
for i in {1..20}
do
python something.py ${train[$i]}
done
Or eval, but it awfull way:
train1=path/to/first/file
train2=path/to/second/file
...
train20=path/to/third/file
for i in {1..20}
do
eval "python something.py $train$i"
done

Create variable from string/nameonly parameter to extract data in bash?

I want to save the variable name and its contents easily from my script.
Currently :-
LOGFILE=/root/log.txt
TEST=/file/path
echo "TEST : ${TEST}" >> ${LOGFILE}
Desired :-
LOGFILE=/root/log.txt
function save()
{
echo "$1 : $1" >> ${LOGFILE}
}
TEST=/file/path
save TEST
Obviously the above save function just saves TEST : TEST
Want I want it to save is TEST : /file/path
Can this be done? How? Many thanks in advance!
You want to use Variable Indirection. Also, don't use the function keyword, it is not POSIX and also not necessary as long as you have () at the end of your function name.
LOGFILE=/root/log.txt
save()
{
echo "$1 : ${!1}" >> ${LOGFILE}
}
TEST=/file/path
save TEST
Proof of Concept
$ TEST=foo; save(){ echo "$1 : ${!1}"; }; save TEST
TEST : foo
Yes, using indirect expansion:
echo "$1 : ${!1}"
Quoting from Bash reference manual:
The basic form of parameter expansion is ${parameter} [...] If the first character of parameter is an exclamation point (!), a level of variable indirection is introduced. Bash uses the value of the variable formed from the rest of parameter as the name of the variable; this variable is then expanded and that value is used in the rest of the substitution, rather than the value of parameter itself. This is known as indirect expansion
Consider using the printenv function. It does exactly what it says on the tin, prints your environment. It can also take parameters
$ printenv
SSH_AGENT_PID=2068
TERM=xterm
SHELL=/bin/bash
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
HISTCONTROL=ignoreboth
...etc
You could do printenv and then grep for any vars you know you have defined and be done in two lines, such as:
$printenv | grep "VARNAME1\|VARNAME2"
VARNAME1=foo
VARNAME2=bar

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