selecting blocks of strings

Question

#!/bin/bash
#
dm1="test1@gmail.com, test2@gmail.com, test3@gmail.com"
dm2="test4@gmail.com, test5@gmail.com, test6@gmail.com"
dm3="test7@gmail.com, test8@gmail.com, test9@gmail.com"
#
read -p "type: dm1, dm2 or dm3 to select: " blocks

I need that variable $blocks will contains not the string dm1, dm2 or dm3 but the contents of dm1, dm2 or dm3 variables to redirect to mutt to send email

Have a look at [dynamic variables in bash](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16553089/dynamic-variable-names-in-bash) — Vijay, Jul 24 '20 at 18:23
Look into `select` as well, instead of building your own menu functionality. — Benjamin W., Jul 24 '20 at 18:40

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 24 '20 at 18:24

1

dm1="test1@gmail.com, test2@gmail.com, test3@gmail.com"
blocks="dm1"
echo "${!blocks}"

Output:

test1@gmail.com, test2@gmail.com, test3@gmail.com

answered Jul 24 '20 at 18:24

Cyrus

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chepner · Answer 2 · 2020-07-24T19:03:08.830

Define a single array, whether indexed

dms=("test1@gmail.com, test2@gmail.com, test3@gmail.com"
     "test4@gmail.com, test5@gmail.com, test6@gmail.com"
     "test7@gmail.com, test8@gmail.com, test9@gmail.com")

or associative

declare -A dms
dms=([dm1]="test1@gmail.com, test2@gmail.com, test3@gmail.com"
     [dm2]="test4@gmail.com, test5@gmail.com, test6@gmail.com"
     [dm3]="test7@gmail.com, test8@gmail.com, test9@gmail.com")

Then the user can an appropriate key (or you can map the input to the appropriate key in a case statement), and you can expand "${dms[$key]}" instead.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 24 '20 at 20:16

0

Using select is as simple as:

PS3="Which block? "
select blocks in "$dm1" "$dm2" "$dm3"; do
  [[ $blocks ]] && break
done
echo "You selected: $blocks"

answered Jul 24 '20 at 20:16

glenn jackman

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selecting blocks of strings

3 Answers3