tldr/pages/common/read.md
Orestis Floros 0155fb60ba
read: add example using 'while' (#5258)
Copied from `while`

As discussed in #5258, this replaces a less useful example to maintain
the limit of 8 examples per page.
2021-02-13 15:03:16 -05:00

762 B

read

BASH builtin for retrieving data from standard input.

  • Store data that you type from the keyboard:

read {{variable}}

  • Store each of the next lines you enter as values of an array:

read -a {{array}}

  • Specify the number of maximum characters to be read:

read -n {{character_count}} {{variable}}

  • Use a specific character as a delimiter instead of a new line:

read -d {{new_delimiter}} {{variable}}

  • Do not let backslash () act as an escape character:

read -r {{variable}}

  • Display a prompt before the input:

read -p "{{Enter your input here: }}" {{variable}}

  • Do not echo typed characters (silent mode):

read -s {{variable}}

  • Read stdin and perform an action on every line:

while read line; do echo "$line"; done