tldr/pages/linux/select.md

# select

> Bash builtin construct for creating menus.
> More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html#index-select>.

- Create a menu out of individual words:

`select {{word}} in {{apple}} {{orange}} {{pear}} {{banana}}; do echo ${{word}}; done`

- Create a menu from the output of another command:

`select {{line}} in $({{command}}); do echo ${{line}}; done`

- Specify the prompt string for `select` and create a menu for picking a file or folder from the current directory:

`PS3="{{Select a file: }}"; select {{file}} in *; do echo ${{file}}; done`

- Create a menu from a Bash array:

`{{fruits}}=({{apple}} {{orange}} {{pear}} {{banana}}); select {{word}} in ${{{fruits}}[@]}; do echo ${{word}}; done`