how to generate var len strings of a given char

migurus · #1 (**permalink**) 10-29-2008

I am looking for a clever way to generate a string of a given chararcter repeated N times in a shell,
for example 12 of '-' would produce '------------'

I saw a good example in CFAJ book, a function called repeat that would run a cycle and concatenate a char to the string N times. It would defenitely work, but I am just in hope of some kind of a clever one-liner type of trick. Anybody have an idea?

radoulov · #2 (**permalink**) 10-29-2008

With shells that support brace expansion:

Code:

printf '-%.0s' {1..12}

With some awk implementations (GNU awk, nawk):

Code:

awk 'BEGIN{$12=OFS="-";print}'

With Perl:

Code:

perl -le'print"-"x12'

zsh:

Code:

print ${(l.44..\055..\055.)}

Ruby:

Code:

ruby -e 'puts"-"*12'

There is another thread here.

migurus · #3 (**permalink**) 10-29-2008

Nice!

More UNIX and Linux Forum Topics You Might Find Helpful
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
How to replace any char with newline char.	mightysam	Shell Programming and Scripting	5	09-18-2008 08:15 PM
Generate XML file from C++	debu	High Level Programming	2	08-04-2008 09:19 AM
generate a program	namishtiwari	High Level Programming	2	08-31-2007 04:09 AM
How to concatenate two strings or several strings into one string in B-shell?	fontana	Shell Programming and Scripting	2	08-26-2005 11:58 AM
Generate a string	Tux_Raju	Shell Programming and Scripting	5	07-29-2005 04:52 AM

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread:


	Powered by