bash: find string in multiple other strings
bash, list, search, string
Solution
The simplest way, IMO, would be to just hardcode a bunch of `case...esac` labels.
#!/bin/bash
function lookup()
{
case "$1" in
apple|banana|kiwi|melon)
echo "FRUIT"
;;
radish|lettuce|potato)
echo "VEGETABLE"
;;
blue|red|yellow|green|brown)
echo "COLOR"
;;
esac
}
MY_CHOICE="kiwi"
MY_CHOICE_GROUP=$(lookup "$MY_CHOICE")
echo $MY_CHOICE: $MY_CHOICE_GROUP
See it live on ideone
Otherwise, consider associative arrays, see it live on ideone:
#!/bin/bash
declare -A groups
groups["apple"]="FRUIT"
groups["banana"]="FRUIT"
groups["kiwi"]="FRUIT"
groups["melon"]="FRUIT"
groups["radish"]="VEGETABLE"
groups["lettuce"]="VEGETABLE"
groups["potato"]="VEGETABLE"
groups["blue"]="COLOR"
groups["red"]="COLOR"
groups["yellow"]="COLOR"
groups["green"]="COLOR"
groups["brown"]="COLOR"
MY_CHOICE="kiwi"
MY_CHOICE_GROUP=${groups[$MY_CHOICE]}
echo $MY_CHOICE: $MY_CHOICE_GROUP
Problem
I'm trying to use bash to find if a short string is present in any string "sets". For example, ``` FRUIT="apple banana kiwi melon" VEGETABLE="radish lettuce potato" COLOR="blue red yellow green brown" MY_CHOICE="kiwi" MY_CHOICE_GROUP="?" ``` How can I set `MY_CHOICE_GROUP` to `FRUIT`? I tried to use this StackOverflow solution, but it only works with a single string set. Originally, I was using arrays to store the options in a set, but given the way bash handles iteration over arrays, it seems a string search would be more efficient. Many thanks!