IFS=: read x y z << EOF ::: EOF recho $x recho "$x" recho $y recho "$y" recho $z recho "$z" if [ -z "$x" ]; then echo FOO else echo BAR fi IFS=: read -a A << EOF ::: EOF recho ${A[0]} recho "${A[0]}" recho ${#A[@]} recho "${A[@]}" if [ -z "${A[0]}" ]; then echo FOO else echo BAR fi echo -n ${A[0]} | cat -vet echo -n ${A[0]} | wc