save output into string and into file bash script

Question

made a program that uses a file as input and sort the characters inside the file.

file4="temp.txt"
name4=$(cat $file4)
echo $name4 |  sed 's/\(.\)/\1\n/g' > file4.txt

echo "enter how many rows :"
read cols

IFS=$'\n' a=($(cat file4.txt))
for j in $(seq ${#a[*]}); do
[[ ${a[$j-1]} = $name ]] && echo "${a[$i]}"
done

for (( i=0; i<=$(( ${#a[@]} / cols )); ++i )); do
for (( j=0; j<cols; ++j )); do
    if (( i%2 )); then idx=$(( (i + 1) / 2 * 2 * cols - j - 1 ))
    else idx=$(( (i / 2) * 2 * cols + j )); fi
    printf "%-4s  " "${a[idx]}"
done
printf "\n"
done

i got this output.

Output:

1   2   3   4   5   
10  9   8   7   6   
11  12  13  14  15  
        18  17  16

and i wanted to save it in a single line string and into a file. the problem now is it should be sorted like this

1 10 11 12 9 2 3 8 13 18 17 14 7 4 5 6 15 16

i googled and what im getting is it save in right to left order

1 2 3 4 5 10 9 8 .....

any idea how?

It is not very clear what you mean. Could you elaborate a bit more and indicate what you've done so far? — fedorqui
– fedorqui, Commented Aug 26, 2014 at 9:27

NoDataFound · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-26 12:12:04Z

1

I updated my answer again and again:

#!/bin/bash

declare -a data

OIFS=$IFS
while read line; do
  let n=0
  IFS=,
  for item in $line; do
    data[$n]+="|$item"
    (( ++n ))
  done
  IFS=$OIFS
done < <(sed -r -e 's@[\t ]@,@g' "$file") 

display() {
  local val=$1
  if [ ! -z "$val" ]; then
    echo -n "$val "
  fi
}

for (( i = 0 ; i < ${#data[@]} ; ++i )); do
  IFS='|'
  declare -a array=( ${data[$i]} )
  IFS=$OIFS
  if (( i % 2 )); then
    for (( j = ${#array[@]} ; j >= 0 ; --j )); do
      display "${array[$j]}"
    done
  else
    for (( j = 0 ; j < ${#array[@]} ; ++j )); do
      display "${array[$j]}"
    done    
  fi
  echo -n ','
done

echo ';'

The sed command is mandatory because the default IFS would split any space, tab or newline. You can try with IFS=' '.

For the input you give in your question, this will print:

$ file=file ./test.bash 
1 10 11 ,,9 12 ,2 ,13 ,8 ,3 14 ,,7 15 18 ,4 ,17 ,6 ,5 16 ,,,;

It is not the expected output, but I think you should add column separator in your output, to differentiate from empty column than space.

edited Aug 26, 2014 at 12:12

answered Aug 26, 2014 at 9:04

NoDataFound

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6 Comments

Aserre Over a year ago

as a side note, you store all the output in data[0] (your for loop at the end of your script displays : 0: 1 2 3 4 5 10 9 8 7 6 11 12 13 14 15 18 17 16).

Sharfudin Mohd Ibrahim Over a year ago

let say if the data inside a file, how should i declare it so that it will read each char as individual array and not a line as an array

NoDataFound Over a year ago

I did not test it. I'll patch it :p

Sharfudin Mohd Ibrahim Over a year ago

thanks a lot. i tried and it worked. yea. it gives out comma in the blank space. anyway what do u mean by adding column seperator?

NoDataFound Over a year ago

Instead of printing space, print a separator you are sure to not have in your output (like ":", etc). Eg: initial output should look like: 1:2:3:4\n5:6:7:8.

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