[arrays] How to find the length of an array in shell?

How do I find the length of an array in shell?

For example:

arr=(1 2 3 4 5)

And I want to get its length, which is 5 in this case.

Assuming bash:

~> declare -a foo
~> foo[0]="foo"
~> foo[1]="bar"
~> foo[2]="baz"
~> echo ${#foo[*]}
3

So, ${#ARRAY[*]} expands to the length of the array ARRAY.

$ a=(1 2 3 4)
$ echo ${#a[@]}
4

For those who still searching a way to put the length of an array into a variable:

foo=$(echo ${'ARRAY[*]}

In the Fish Shell the length of an array can be found with:

$ set a 1 2 3 4
$ count $a
4

in tcsh or csh:

~> set a = ( 1 2 3 4 5 )
~> echo $#a
5

From Bash manual:

${#parameter}

The length in characters of the expanded value of parameter is substituted. If parameter is ‘’ or ‘@’, the value substituted is the number of positional parameters. If parameter is an array name subscripted by ‘’ or ‘@’, the value substituted is the number of elements in the array. If parameter is an indexed array name subscripted by a negative number, that number is interpreted as relative to one greater than the maximum index of parameter, so negative indices count back from the end of the array, and an index of -1 references the last element.

Length of strings, arrays, and associative arrays

string="0123456789"                   # create a string of 10 characters
array=(0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9)           # create an indexed array of 10 elements
declare -A hash
hash=([one]=1 [two]=2 [three]=3)      # create an associative array of 3 elements
echo "string length is: ${#string}"   # length of string
echo "array length is: ${#array[@]}"  # length of array using @ as the index
echo "array length is: ${#array[*]}"  # length of array using * as the index
echo "hash length is: ${#hash[@]}"    # length of array using @ as the index
echo "hash length is: ${#hash[*]}"    # length of array using * as the index

output:

string length is: 10
array length is: 10
array length is: 10
hash length is: 3
hash length is: 3

Dealing with $@, the argument array:

set arg1 arg2 "arg 3"
args_copy=("$@")
echo "number of args is: $#"
echo "number of args is: ${#@}"
echo "args_copy length is: ${#args_copy[@]}"

output:

number of args is: 3
number of args is: 3
args_copy length is: 3

this works well for me

    arglen=$#
    argparam=$*
    if [ $arglen -eq '3' ];
    then
            echo Valid Number of arguments
            echo "Arguments are $*"
    else
            echo only four arguments are allowed
    fi