[bash] How to specify a multi-line shell variable?

read does not export the variable (which is a good thing most of the time). Here's an alternative which can be exported in one command, can preserve or discard linefeeds, and allows mixing of quoting-styles as needed. Works for bash and zsh.

oneLine=$(printf %s \
    a   \
    " b "   \
    $'\tc\t'    \
    'd '    \
)
multiLine=$(printf '%s\n' \
    a   \
    " b "   \
    $'\tc\t'    \
    'd '    \
)

I admit the need for quoting makes this ugly for SQL, but it answers the (more generally expressed) question in the title.

I use it like this

export LS_COLORS=$(printf %s    \
    ':*rc=36:*.ini=36:*.inf=36:*.cfg=36:*~=33:*.bak=33:*$=33'   \
    ...
    ':bd=40;33;1:cd=40;33;1:or=1;31:mi=31:ex=00')

in a file sourced from both my .bashrc and .zshrc.