[SOLVED] Array of arrays in bash

Issue

I'm attempting to read an input file line by line which contains fields delimited by periods. I want to put them into an array of arrays so I can loop through them later on. The input appears to be ok, but 'pushing' that onto the array (inData) doesn't appear to be working.

The code goes :

Input file: 
GSDB.GOSALESDW_DIST_INVENTORY_FACT.MONTH_KEY
GSDB.GOSALESDW_DIST_INVENTORY_FACT.ORGANIZATION_KEY


infile=${1}

OIFS=$IFS
IFS=":"

cat ${infile} | while read line
do
      line=${line//\./:}
      inarray=(${line})
#      echo ${inarray[@]}
#      echo ${#inarray[@]}      
#      echo ${inarray[0]}
#      echo ${inarray[1]}
#      echo ${inarray[2]}

      inData=("${inData[@]}" "${inarray[@]}")
done 
IFS=$OIFS

echo ${#inData[@]}   

for ((i = 0; i < ${#inData[@]}; i++))
do
 echo $i
    for ((j = 0; j < ${#inData[$i][@]}; j++))
    do
       echo ${inData[$i][$j]}
    done
done

Solution

Bash has no support for multidimensional arrays. Try

array=(a b c d)
echo ${array[1]}
echo ${array[1][3]}
echo ${array[1]exit}

For tricks how to simulate them, see Advanced Bash Scripting Guide.

The output of the 3 echo commands is:

b
bash: ${array[1][3]}: bad substitution
bash: ${array[1]exit}: bad substitution

Answered By - choroba

Answer Checked By - Mildred Charles (WPSolving Admin)