[SOLVED] How to get the last character of a string in a shell?

Issue

I have written the following lines to get the last character of a string:

str=$1
i=$((${#str}-1))
echo ${str:$i:1}

It works for abcd/:

$ bash last_ch.sh abcd/
/

It does not work for abcd*:

$ bash last_ch.sh abcd*
array.sh assign.sh date.sh dict.sh full_path.sh last_ch.sh

It lists the files in the current folder.

Solution

That's one of the reasons why you need to quote your variables:

echo "${str:$i:1}"

Otherwise, bash expands the variable and in this case does globbing before printing out. It is also better to quote the parameter to the script (in case you have a matching filename):

sh lash_ch.sh 'abcde*'

Also see the order of expansions in the bash reference manual. Variables are expanded before the filename expansion.

To get the last character you should just use -1 as the index since the negative indices count from the end of the string:

echo "${str: -1}"

The space after the colon (:) is REQUIRED.

This approach will not work without the space.

Answered By - perreal

Answer Checked By - Mary Flores (WPSolving Volunteer)