Appending a string into a value from an array

Question

Is there a way to append an Array element in bash? For Example:

$ declare -a MY_ARR=('Bob' 'Jim Jim' 'Dug Dug' 'Mark Mark')
$ echo "${MY_ARR[0]}"
Bob
$ MY_ARR[0]<< "bob"
$ echo "${MY_ARR[0]}"
Bob bob

I'm pretty sure that there is a relatively simple way of doing this in PHP but I can't seem to find a bash solution.

Just to clarify I want to add something to the current array element not overwrite it.

EDIT: I want to append a current Array ELEMENT not add another element to the array. It is the actual array ELEMENT contents that I want to edit.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 04 '14 at 08:48

1

declare -a MY_ARR=('Bob' 'Jim Jim' 'Dug Dug' 'Mark Mark')
MY_ARR[0]+=" bob"
echo "${MY_ARR[0]}"

Output:

Bob bob

answered Dec 04 '14 at 08:48

Cyrus

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Please see update to clarify I do not want to append the array it is the array element – RixsonL Dec 04 '14 at 08:54
This adds something to the first array element. Take a look at: `declare -p MY_ARR` – Cyrus Dec 04 '14 at 08:58
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@RixsonL `MY_ARR+=( " bob" )` would append to the **array**, Cyrus appended to the **element 0**. – David C. Rankin Dec 04 '14 at 09:04
Thank you for clarifying David. Yes that is correct Cyrus thank you for your help. – RixsonL Dec 04 '14 at 09:14

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 04 '14 at 09:01

1

$ declare -a MY_ARR=('Bob' 'Jim Jim' 'Dug Dug' 'Mark Mark')
$ echo "${MY_ARR[0]}"
bob
$ MY_ARR[0]="${MY_ARR[0]} bob"
$ echo "${MY_ARR[0]}"
bob bob

answered Dec 04 '14 at 09:01

David C. Rankin

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Glad to help. Lot of smart bash folks here `:)` – David C. Rankin Dec 04 '14 at 09:27
It's quite scary sometimes :) – RixsonL Dec 04 '14 at 09:44

Appending a string into a value from an array

2 Answers2