How to split a string in bash delimited by tab

If your file look something like this (with tab as separator):

1st-field   2nd-field

you can use cut to extract the first field (operates on tab by default):

$ cut -f1 input1st-field

If you're using awk, there is no need to use tail to get the last line, changing the input to:

1:1st-field     2nd-field2:1st-field     2nd-field3:1st-field     2nd-field4:1st-field     2nd-field5:1st-field     2nd-field6:1st-field     2nd-field7:1st-field     2nd-field8:1st-field     2nd-field9:1st-field     2nd-field10:1st-field    2nd-field

Solution using awk:

$ awk 'END {print $1}' input10:1st-field

Pure bash-solution:

#!/bin/bashwhile read a b;do last=$a; done < inputecho $last

outputs:

$ ./tab.sh 10:1st-field

Lastly, a solution using sed

$ sed '$s/\(^[^\t]*\).*$/\1/' input10:1st-field

here, $ is the range operator; i.e. operate on the last line only.

For your original question, use a literal tab, i.e.

x="1st-field    2nd-field"echo ${x%   *}

outputs:

1st-field

Use $'ANSI-C' strings in the parameter expansion:

$ x=$'abc\tdef\tghi'$ echo "$s"abc     def     ghi$ echo ">>${x%%$'\t'*}<<">>abc<<

read field1 field2 <<< ${tabDelimitedField}

or

read field1 field2 <<< $(command_producing_tab_delimited_output)