Copying character at certain position


 
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# 1  
Old 05-09-2013
Copying character at certain position

So I'm iterating through a series of strings and I want to pick out a character in a certain position
so if I have the string
Code:
abcde

asigned to the variable $B.
Let $i=2, then I'd like it to asign the variable $a=b
similarly, if $i=3 then $a=c

The only things I can think of work with cut, but they require files, and I have a string assigned to a variable.
# 2  
Old 05-09-2013
cut can also read from standard input:
Code:
$ i=2
$ echo abcde | cut -c$i
b

This User Gave Thanks to Scott For This Post:
# 3  
Old 05-09-2013
Of course, I'm dumb. Thanks.
# 4  
Old 05-09-2013
If you have a 1993 or later version of ksh or a recent bash, you could also use:
Code:
a="${B:$((i - 1)):1}"

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