ormaaj 1415894586 learn namerefs (typeset -n) are a ksh93 feature that work like C++ references for passing data structures between functions. Bash and mksh have a limited but usable version of namerefs. http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/006 https://gist.github.com/ormaaj/5682807 ormaaj 1415908678 forget ormaaj 1415908723 learn namerefs (typeset -n) are a ksh93 feature that work like C++ references for passing data structures between functions. Bash 4.3+ and mksh have a limited but usable version of namerefs. http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/006 https://gist.github.com/ormaaj/5682807