Question

How can you “read” into variables using IFS and a variable?

I am trying to loop over some data paired by a pipe to be split and worked on. The error I am getting is read: 'site|database': not a valid identifier

SITES="abc|abc xyz|asdf"
for site in $SITES;
do
  IFS="|" read domain database <<< echo $site; # es no bueno mi amigo
  echo "Site: $domain \t\t\t Database: $database";
done;

Am I just doing this the hard way? I am not a native Basher. 😉

Answer 1

The problem with your script is that you are not passing the Here String to read correctly. It should be done like this:

IFS=$"|" read domain database <<< "$site" # es no bueno mi amigo

Remember to quote the variable as well.

Your script will then work.

Here is the fixed script:

SITES="abc|abc xyz|asdf"
for site in $SITES
do
  IFS="|" read domain database <<< "$site" # es no bueno mi amigo
  echo -e "Site: $domain \t\t\t Database: $database"
done

It prints:

Site: abc                        Database: abc
Site: xyz                        Database: asdf