How to split a string in shell and get the last field

cd1 picture cd1 · Jul 2, 2010 · Viewed 397.2k times · Source

Suppose I have the string 1:2:3:4:5 and I want to get its last field (5 in this case). How do I do that using Bash? I tried cut, but I don't know how to specify the last field with -f.

Answer

Stephen picture Stephen · Jul 2, 2010

You can use string operators:

$ foo=1:2:3:4:5
$ echo ${foo##*:}
5

This trims everything from the front until a ':', greedily.

${foo  <-- from variable foo
  ##   <-- greedy front trim
  *    <-- matches anything
  :    <-- until the last ':'
 }