array - Manipulate array variables
array option arrayName ?arg arg ...?
This command performs one of several operations on the
variable given by arrayName.
Unless otherwise specified for individual commands below,
arrayName must be the name of an existing array variable.
The option argument determines what action is carried
out by the command.
The legal options (which may be abbreviated) are:
- array anymore arrayName searchId
-
Returns 1 if there are any more elements left to be processed
in an array search, 0 if all elements have already been
returned.
SearchId indicates which search on arrayName to
check, and must have been the return value from a previous
invocation of array startsearch.
This option is particularly useful if an array has an element
with an empty name, since the return value from
array nextelement won't indicate whether the search
has been completed.
- array donesearch arrayName searchId
-
This command terminates an array search and destroys all the
state associated with that search. SearchId indicates
which search on arrayName to destroy, and must have
been the return value from a previous invocation of
array startsearch. Returns an empty string.
- array exists arrayName
-
Returns 1 if arrayName is an array variable, 0 if there
is no variable by that name or if it is a scalar variable.
- array get arrayName ?pattern?
-
Returns a list containing pairs of elements. The first
element in each pair is the name of an element in arrayName
and the second element of each pair is the value of the
array element. The order of the pairs is undefined.
If pattern is not specified, then all of the elements of the
array are included in the result.
If pattern is specified, then only those elements whose names
match pattern (using the glob-style matching rules of
string match) are included.
If arrayName isn't the name of an array variable, or if
the array contains no elements, then an empty list is returned.
- array names arrayName ?pattern?
-
Returns a list containing the names of all of the elements in
the array that match pattern (using the glob-style matching
rules of string match).
If pattern is omitted then the command returns all of
the element names in the array.
If there are no (matching) elements in the array, or if arrayName
isn't the name of an array variable, then an empty string is
returned.
- array nextelement arrayName searchId
-
Returns the name of the next element in arrayName, or
an empty string if all elements of arrayName have
already been returned in this search. The searchId
argument identifies the search, and must have
been the return value of an array startsearch command.
Warning: if elements are added to or deleted from the array,
then all searches are automatically terminated just as if
array donesearch had been invoked; this will cause
array nextelement operations to fail for those searches.
- array set arrayName list
-
Sets the values of one or more elements in arrayName.
list must have a form like that returned by array get,
consisting of an even number of elements.
Each odd-numbered element in list is treated as an element
name within arrayName, and the following element in list
is used as a new value for that array element.
- array size arrayName
-
Returns a decimal string giving the number of elements in the
array.
If arrayName isn't the name of an array then 0 is returned.
- array startsearch arrayName
-
This command initializes an element-by-element search through the
array given by arrayName, such that invocations of the
array nextelement command will return the names of the
individual elements in the array.
When the search has been completed, the array donesearch
command should be invoked.
The return value is a
search identifier that must be used in array nextelement
and array donesearch commands; it allows multiple
searches to be underway simultaneously for the same array.
array, element names, search
Copyright © 1993-1994 The Regents of the University of California.
Copyright © 1994-1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Copyright © 1995, 1996 Roger E. Critchlow Jr.