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+#!/bin/bash
+# $Id$
+# Copyright 2005 Oliver Beckstein
+# Released under the GNU Public License
+# Author of script granted permission for inclusion in ABS Guide.
+# (Thank you!)
+
+#----------------------------------------------------------------
+# pseudo hash based on indirect parameter expansion
+# API: access through functions:
+# 
+# create the hash:
+#  
+#      newhash Lovers
+#
+# add entries (note single quotes for spaces)
+#    
+#      addhash Lovers Tristan Isolde
+#      addhash Lovers 'Romeo Montague' 'Juliet Capulet'
+#
+# access value by key
+#
+#      gethash Lovers Tristan   ---->  Isolde
+#
+# show all keys
+#
+#      keyshash Lovers         ----> 'Tristan'  'Romeo Montague'
+#
+#
+# convention: instead of perls' foo{bar} = boing' syntax,
+# use
+#       '_foo_bar=boing' (two underscores, no spaces)
+#
+# 1) store key   in _NAME_keys[]
+# 2) store value in _NAME_values[] using the same integer index
+# The integer index for the last entry is _NAME_ptr
+#
+# NOTE: No error or sanity checks, just bare bones.
+
+
+function _inihash () {
+    # private function
+    # call at the beginning of each procedure
+    # defines: _keys _values _ptr
+    #
+    # usage: _inihash NAME
+    local name=$1
+    _keys=_${name}_keys
+    _values=_${name}_values
+    _ptr=_${name}_ptr
+}
+
+function newhash () {
+    # usage: newhash NAME
+    #        NAME should not contain spaces or '.';
+    #        actually: it must be a legal name for a bash variable
+    # We rely on bash automatically recognising arrays.
+    local name=$1 
+    local _keys _values _ptr
+    _inihash ${name}
+    eval ${_ptr}=0
+}
+
+
+function addhash () {
+    # usage: addhash NAME KEY 'VALUE with spaces'
+    #        arguments with spaces need to be quoted with single quotes ''
+    local name=$1 k="$2" v="$3" 
+    local _keys _values _ptr
+    _inihash ${name}
+
+    #echo "DEBUG(addhash): ${_ptr}=${!_ptr}"
+
+    eval let ${_ptr}=${_ptr}+1
+    eval "$_keys[${!_ptr}]=\"${k}\""
+    eval "$_values[${!_ptr}]=\"${v}\""
+}
+
+function gethash () {
+    # usage: gethash NAME KEY
+    #        returns boing
+    #        ERR=0 if entry found, 1 otherwise
+    # Thats not a proper hash---we simply linearly search through the keys
+    local name=$1 key="$2" 
+    local _keys _values _ptr 
+    local k v i found h
+    _inihash ${name}
+    
+    # _ptr holds the highest index in the hash
+    found=0
+
+    for i in $(seq 1 ${!_ptr}); do
+	h="\${${_keys}[${i}]}"  # safer to do it in two steps
+	eval k=${h}             # (especially when quoting for spaces)
+	if [ "${k}" = "${key}" ]; then found=1; break; fi
+    done;
+
+    [ ${found} = 0 ] && return 1;
+    # else: i is the index that matches the key
+    h="\${${_values}[${i}]}"
+    eval echo "${h}"
+    return 0;	
+}
+
+function keyshash () {
+    # usage: keyshash NAME
+    # returns list of all keys defined for hash name
+    local name=$1 key="$2" 
+    local _keys _values _ptr 
+    local k i h
+    _inihash ${name}
+    
+    # _ptr holds the highest index in the hash
+    for i in $(seq 1 ${!_ptr}); do
+	h="\${${_keys}[${i}]}"   # Safer to do it in two steps
+	eval k=${h}              # (especially when quoting for spaces)
+	echo -n "'${k}' "
+    done;
+}
+
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# Now, let's test it.
+# (Per comments at the beginning of the script.)
+newhash Lovers
+addhash Lovers Tristan Isolde
+addhash Lovers 'Romeo Montague' 'Juliet Capulet'
+
+# Output results.
+echo
+gethash Lovers Tristan      # Isolde
+echo
+keyshash Lovers             # 'Tristan' 'Romeo Montague'
+echo; echo
+
+
+exit 0
+
+# Exercise: Add error checks to the functions.