Split string into array of characters
USAGE: string2array arrayname string
string2array() { local array arrayname=${1:?Array name required} string=${2:?String required}
Add characters to array
while [ -n "$string" ] do array+=( "${string:0:1}" ) string=${string#?} done
Copy array into $arrayname
eval "$arrayname=( \"\${array[@]}\" )" }