Bash - create 2D array

In this short article, we would like to show how to create 2D array in Bash.

By default Bash doesn't support 2D arrays, but there is some trick that lets to achieve the effect.

Quick solution (address array with ${array[row_index * columns_count + column_index]}):

#!/bin/bash

columns_count=2

array=(
#  [column 0]  [column 1]
	a           b
	c           d
	e           f
)

items_count=${#array[*]}
rows_count=$((items_count / columns_count))

echo "Array size: $rows_count x $columns_count"

row_index=2
column_index=1

echo "Array item: ${array[row_index * columns_count + column_index]}"

Output:

Array size: 3 x 2
Array item: f

Note: in the array, white characters between items are ignored, so to add item with multiple words wrap it with "".

e.g.

array=(
#  [column 1]  [column 2]
	"a item"   "b item"
	"c item"   "d item"
	"e item"   "f item"
)

Practical example

In the below example we use a users list that contains rows with two columns: username and email.

#!/bin/bash

columns_count=2

users=(
#  [column 0]  [column 1      ]
#
	john        john@mail.com
	ann         ann@mail.com
	matt        matt@mail.com
)

items_count=${#users[*]}
rows_count=$((items_count/ columns_count))

echo "Users count: $rows_count"
echo

for (( i = 0; i < rows_count; ++i ))
do
	row_number=$((i + 1))

	echo "$row_number. ${users[i * columns_count + 0]} ${users[i * columns_count + 1]}"
done

Output:

Users count: 3

1. john john@mail.com
2. ann ann@mail.com
3. matt matt@mail.com