Hi,

I'm trying to write a function that reassigns an array to
another local array but the method used in reassigning
the array reformats the contents of the array which is
what I am trying to prevent.

The method used to load a file into an array works as
expected and the entire array is returned to the main
body of the script i.e. preserves all white spaces and
each line is stored in its respective array index.

Load the contents of a file into an array.
use: array_load _array_file_ $filename

Code:

local -a _ARRAY_
*
_ARRAY_[I++]=" \"$LINE\""
*
eval "$1=( ${_ARRAY_[@]} )"

However, when I try to reassign the array to another
local array within a function, the destination array is
reformatted. Each item within an array looses its
white spaces and gains it's own array index.

Assign array 2 to array 1
use: array_assign ARR1 ARR2

Code:

function array_assign
{
	local -a _ARRAY_
	_ARRAY_=( $(eval "echo \${$2[@]}") )
	eval "$1=( ${_ARRAY_[@]} )"
}

Correct array structure:

Code:

item1    item2    item3    item4

Array structure after passing to function and executing
'eval echo' on array when assigning to local variable:

Code:

item1
item2
item3
item4

As recommended, I did search the web and tried the
majority of the methods found, but I still ended with an
array that is transposed.

The objective is to have reusable code so the function
can't rely on global variables and only rely on the
variables passed to the function.

Solutions or a suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

A.