#   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
#   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
#   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
#   (at your option) any later version.
#
#   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
#   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
#   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
#   GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
#   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
#
unset f ; f=abcd

first_char=${f[@]:0:1}
recho $first_char

first_char=${f[0]:0:1}
recho $first_char

first_char=${f:0:1}
recho $first_char

first_char="${f[@]:0:1}"
recho $first_char

first_char="${f[@]:0:1}"
recho $first_char

first_char="${f[0]:0:1}"
recho $first_char

first_char="${f:0:1}"
recho $first_char

unset f;
f=( one two three )
first_word=${f[@]:0:1}
recho $first_word

first_word=${f[0]:0:1}
recho $first_word

first_word=${f:0:1}
recho $first_word

unset f;
f=( one two three )
first_word=${f[@]:0:1}
recho $first_word

set -- abc def ghi

printf '<%s> ' "123 $@ 456"; echo
printf '<%s> ' "123 $@\ 456"; echo