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Asked: 2026-05-10T22:23:57+00:00

I get the name of a variable from the script user as the first

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I get the name of a variable from the script user as the first argument and I echo the value of said variable back to the console:

#!/bin/bash variablename=$1 echo 'The value of $variablename is: ' ${!variablename}

This works great!

What I can’t get to work is if I want to change that variable into the value of the second argument from the user. An example with a syntax error is:

#!/bin/bash variablename=$1 echo 'The value of $variablename is: ' ${!variablename} echo 'I will now try to change the value into $2.' (!variablename}=$2 # The above line generates: {!variablename}=2: command not found

In other words: If it is possible, how do I get a variable name from the user and both read (already solved) and write to said variable?

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1 Answer

  1. I had a flash all of a sudden, minutes after asking for help, and I think I have a solution:

    #!/bin/bash variablename=$1 echo 'The value of $variablename is: ' ${!variablename} echo 'I will now try to change the value into $2.' eval '$variablename=$2' echo 'Success! $variablename now has the value ${!variablename}!'

    It works. Is there a better way?

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