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How do you store a list of directories into an array in Bash (and then print them out)?

Asked 2010-12-20T21:55:48.603
43

I want to write a shell script to show a list of directories entered by a user and then for a user to select one of the directories with an index number based on how many directories there are

I'm thinking this is some kind of array operation, but im not sure how to do this in shell script

example:

> whichdir
There are 3 dirs in the current path
1 dir1
2 dir2
3 dir3
which dir do you want? 
> 3
you selected dir3!
arrays bash directory
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1 Answer

58
$ ls -a
./ ../ .foo/ bar/ baz qux*
$ shopt -s dotglob
$ shopt -s nullglob
$ array=(*/)
$ for dir in "${array[@]}"; do echo "$dir"; done
.foo/
bar/
$ for dir in */; do echo "$dir"; done
.foo/
bar/
$ PS3="which dir do you want? "
$ echo "There are ${#array[@]} dirs in the current path"; \
select dir in "${array[@]}"; do echo "you selected ${dir}"'!'; break; done
There are 2 dirs in the current path
1) .foo/
2) bar/
which dir do you want? 2
you selected bar/!
answered 2010-12-21T00:32:52.513

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