Question

Just pesuocode but this is essentially what I would like to do.

Array=("1" "Linux" "Test system"
       "2" "Windows" "Workstation"
       "3" "Windows" "Workstation")


echo "number " ${array[search "$1"]} "is a" ${array[search "$1" +1]} ${array[search "$1" +2])}

Is this possible with bash? I could only find info on search and replace. I didn’t see anything That would return and index.

Answer 1

Something like that should work:

search() {
    local i=1;
    for str in "${array[@]}"; do
        if [ "$str" = "$1" ]; then
            echo $i
            return
        else
            ((i++))
        fi
    done
    echo "-1"
}

While looping over the array to find the index is certainly possible, this alternative solution with an associative array is more practical:

array=([1,os]="Linux"   [1,type]="Test System"
       [2,os]="Windows" [2,type]="Work Station"
       [3,os]="Windows" [3,type]="Work Station")

echo "number $1 is a ${array[$1,os]} ${array[$1,type]}"