Is there a function to return the length of a string?

The fastest way, not requiring external programs (but usable only with BASH and KornShell):

${#varname}

or for Bourne shells:

expr "$varname" : '.*'

(expr prints the number of characters matching the pattern .*, which is the length of the string.)

Another one:

expr length "$varname"

(This is for a BSD/GNU version of expr. Do not use this, because it is not POSIX).

${#arrayname[@]}

Returns the Number of Elements in an Array.

${#arrayname[i]}

Returns the length of the Arrays Element i.


CategoryShell