Issue
ascii() {printf '%d' "'$1"}
I am currently using this function to convert characters to ASCII, however I just want to store the result of the function as a variable without printing the ascii. How would I go about this? (please bear in mind I have only been using bash for a few hours total, so sorry if this is a dumb question.)
Solution
In bash, after
printf -v numval "%d" "'$1"
the variable numval (you can use any other valid variable name) will hold the numerical value of the first character of the string contained in the positional parameter $1.
Alternatively, you can use the command substitution:
numval=$(printf "%d" "'$1")
Note that these still use printf but won't print anything to stdout.
As stated in the comment by @Charles Duffy, the printf -v version is more efficient, but less portable (standard POSIX shell does not support the -v option).
Answered By - M. Nejat Aydin Answer Checked By - Mary Flores (WPSolving Volunteer)