如果您知道您感兴趣的标记和您期望的yaml结构，那么在Bash中编写一个简单的yaml解析器并不难。

在下面的示例中，解析器将一个结构化YAML文件读入环境变量、数组和关联数组。

注意:这个解析器的复杂性与YAML文件的结构有关。对于YAML文件的每个结构化组件，都需要一个单独的子例程。高度结构化的YAML文件可能需要更复杂的方法，例如通用的递归下降解析器。

圣诞节。yaml文件:

# Xmas YAML example
---
 # Values
 pear-tree: partridge
 turtle-doves: 2.718
 french-hens: 3

 # Array
 calling-birds:
   - huey
   - dewey
   - louie
   - fred

 # Structure
 xmas-fifth-day:
   calling-birds: four
   french-hens: 3
   golden-rings: 5
   partridges:
     count: 1
     location: "a pear tree"
   turtle-doves: two

解析器使用mapfile将文件作为数组读入内存，然后循环遍历每个标记并创建环境变量。

梨树、斑鸠和法国母鸡:最终成为简单的环境变量 呼叫鸟:变成一个数组 xmas-fifth-day:结构被表示为一个关联数组，但是如果您没有使用Bash 4.0或更高版本，您可以将这些数组编码为环境变量。 注释和空白将被忽略。

#!/bin/bash
# -------------------------------------------------------------------
# A simple parser for the xmas.yaml file
# -------------------------------------------------------------------
# 
# xmas.yaml tags
#  #                        - Ignored
#                           - Blank lines are ignored
#  ---                      - Initialiser for days-of-xmas 
#   pear-tree: partridge    - a string
#   turtle-doves: 2.718     - a string, no float type in Bash
#   french-hens: 3          - a number
#   calling-birds:          - an array of strings
#     - huey                - calling-birds[0]
#     - dewey
#     - louie
#     - fred
#   xmas-fifth-day:         - an associative array
#     calling-birds: four   - a string
#     french-hens: 3        - a number
#     golden-rings: 5       - a number
#     partridges:           - changes the key to partridges.xxx
#       count: 1            - a number
#       location: "a pear tree" - a string
#     turtle-doves: two     - a string
# 
# This requires the following routines
# ParseXMAS
#   parses #, ---, blank line
#   unexpected tag error
#   calls days-of-xmas
#
# days-of-xmas
#   parses pear-tree, turtle-doves, french-hens
#   calls calling-birds
#   calls xmas-fifth-day
# 
# calling-birds
#   elements of the array
#
# xmas-fifth-day
#   parses calling-birds, french-hens, golden-rings, turtle-doves
#   calls partridges
# 
# partridges
#   parses partridges.count, partridges.location
#

function ParseXMAS()
{

  # days-of-xmas
  #   parses pear-tree, turtle-doves, french-hens
  #   calls calling-birds
  #   calls xmas-fifth-day
  # 
  function days-of-xmas()
  {
    unset PearTree TurtleDoves FrenchHens

    while [ $CURRENT_ROW -lt $ROWS ]
    do
      LINE=( ${CONFIG[${CURRENT_ROW}]} )
      TAG=${LINE[0]}
      unset LINE[0]

      VALUE="${LINE[*]}"

      echo "  days-of-xmas[${CURRENT_ROW}] ${TAG}=${VALUE}"

      if [ "$TAG" = "pear-tree:" ]
      then
        declare -g PearTree=$VALUE
      elif [ "$TAG" = "turtle-doves:" ]
      then
        declare -g TurtleDoves=$VALUE
      elif [ "$TAG" = "french-hens:" ]
      then
        declare -g FrenchHens=$VALUE
      elif [ "$TAG" = "calling-birds:" ]
      then
        let CURRENT_ROW=$(($CURRENT_ROW + 1))
        calling-birds
        continue
      elif [ "$TAG" = "xmas-fifth-day:" ]
      then
        let CURRENT_ROW=$(($CURRENT_ROW + 1))
        xmas-fifth-day
        continue
      elif [ -z "$TAG" ] || [ "$TAG" = "#" ]
      then
        # Ignore comments and blank lines
        true
      else
        # time to bug out
        break
      fi

      let CURRENT_ROW=$(($CURRENT_ROW + 1))
    done
  }

  # calling-birds
  #   elements of the array
  function calling-birds()
  {
    unset CallingBirds

    declare -ag CallingBirds

    while [ $CURRENT_ROW -lt $ROWS ]
    do
      LINE=( ${CONFIG[${CURRENT_ROW}]} )
      TAG=${LINE[0]}
      unset LINE[0]

      VALUE="${LINE[*]}"

      echo "    calling-birds[${CURRENT_ROW}] ${TAG}=${VALUE}"

      if [ "$TAG" = "-" ]
      then
        CallingBirds[${#CallingBirds[*]}]=$VALUE
      elif [ -z "$TAG" ] || [ "$TAG" = "#" ]
      then
        # Ignore comments and blank lines
        true
      else
        # time to bug out
        break
      fi

      let CURRENT_ROW=$(($CURRENT_ROW + 1))
    done
  }

  # xmas-fifth-day
  #   parses calling-birds, french-hens, golden-rings, turtle-doves
  #   calls fifth-day-partridges
  # 
  function xmas-fifth-day()
  {
    unset XmasFifthDay

    declare -Ag XmasFifthDay

    while [ $CURRENT_ROW -lt $ROWS ]
    do
      LINE=( ${CONFIG[${CURRENT_ROW}]} )
      TAG=${LINE[0]}
      unset LINE[0]

      VALUE="${LINE[*]}"

      echo "    xmas-fifth-day[${CURRENT_ROW}] ${TAG}=${VALUE}"

      if [ "$TAG" = "calling-birds:" ]
      then
        XmasFifthDay[CallingBirds]=$VALUE
      elif [ "$TAG" = "french-hens:" ]
      then
        XmasFifthDay[FrenchHens]=$VALUE
      elif [ "$TAG" = "golden-rings:" ]
      then
        XmasFifthDay[GOLDEN-RINGS]=$VALUE
      elif [ "$TAG" = "turtle-doves:" ]
      then
        XmasFifthDay[TurtleDoves]=$VALUE
      elif [ "$TAG" = "partridges:" ]
      then
        let CURRENT_ROW=$(($CURRENT_ROW + 1))
        partridges
        continue
      elif [ -z "$TAG" ] || [ "$TAG" = "#" ]
      then
        # Ignore comments and blank lines
        true
      else
        # time to bug out
        break
      fi
 
      let CURRENT_ROW=$(($CURRENT_ROW + 1))
    done
  }

  function partridges()
  {
    while [ $CURRENT_ROW -lt $ROWS ]
    do
      LINE=( ${CONFIG[${CURRENT_ROW}]} )
      TAG=${LINE[0]}
      unset LINE[0]

      VALUE="${LINE[*]}"

      echo "      partridges[${CURRENT_ROW}] ${TAG}=${VALUE}"

      if [ "$TAG" = "count:" ]
      then
        XmasFifthDay[PARTRIDGES.COUNT]=$VALUE
      elif [ "$TAG" = "location:" ]
      then
        XmasFifthDay[PARTRIDGES.LOCATION]=$VALUE
      elif [ -z "$TAG" ] || [ "$TAG" = "#" ]
      then
        # Ignore comments and blank lines
        true
      else
        # time to bug out
        break
      fi
 
      let CURRENT_ROW=$(($CURRENT_ROW + 1))
    done
  }

  # ===================================================================
  # Load the configuration file

  mapfile CONFIG < xmas.yaml

  let ROWS=${#CONFIG[@]}
  let CURRENT_ROW=0

  # +
  # #
  #
  # ---
  # -
  while [ $CURRENT_ROW -lt $ROWS ]
  do
    LINE=( ${CONFIG[${CURRENT_ROW}]} )
    TAG=${LINE[0]}
    unset LINE[0]

    VALUE="${LINE[*]}"

    echo "[${CURRENT_ROW}] ${TAG}=${VALUE}"

    if [ "$TAG" = "---" ]
    then
        let CURRENT_ROW=$(($CURRENT_ROW + 1))
        days-of-xmas
        continue
    elif [ -z "$TAG" ] || [ "$TAG" = "#" ]
    then
        # Ignore comments and blank lines
        true
    else
        echo "Unexpected tag at line $(($CURRENT_ROW + 1)): <${TAG}>={${VALUE}}"
        break
    fi

    let CURRENT_ROW=$(($CURRENT_ROW + 1))
  done
}

echo =========================================
ParseXMAS

echo =========================================
declare -p PearTree
declare -p TurtleDoves
declare -p FrenchHens
declare -p CallingBirds
declare -p XmasFifthDay

这将产生以下输出

=========================================
[0] #=Xmas YAML example
[1] ---=
  days-of-xmas[2] #=Values
  days-of-xmas[3] pear-tree:=partridge
  days-of-xmas[4] turtle-doves:=2.718
  days-of-xmas[5] french-hens:=3
  days-of-xmas[6] =
  days-of-xmas[7] #=Array
  days-of-xmas[8] calling-birds:=
    calling-birds[9] -=huey
    calling-birds[10] -=dewey
    calling-birds[11] -=louie
    calling-birds[12] -=fred
    calling-birds[13] =
    calling-birds[14] #=Structure
    calling-birds[15] xmas-fifth-day:=
  days-of-xmas[15] xmas-fifth-day:=
    xmas-fifth-day[16] calling-birds:=four
    xmas-fifth-day[17] french-hens:=3
    xmas-fifth-day[18] golden-rings:=5
    xmas-fifth-day[19] partridges:=
      partridges[20] count:=1
      partridges[21] location:="a pear tree"
      partridges[22] turtle-doves:=two
    xmas-fifth-day[22] turtle-doves:=two
=========================================
declare -- PearTree="partridge"
declare -- TurtleDoves="2.718"
declare -- FrenchHens="3"
declare -a CallingBirds=([0]="huey" [1]="dewey" [2]="louie" [3]="fred")
declare -A XmasFifthDay=([CallingBirds]="four" [PARTRIDGES.LOCATION]="\"a pear tree\"" [FrenchHens]="3" [GOLDEN-RINGS]="5" [PARTRIDGES.COUNT]="1" [TurtleDoves]="two" )

我刚刚写了一个解析器，我称之为Yay!(Yaml不是Yamlesque!)它解析Yamlesque, Yaml的一个小子集。因此，如果您正在为Bash寻找一个100%兼容的YAML解析器，那么这不是它。但是，为了引用OP，如果您想要一个结构化的配置文件，使非技术用户能够尽可能容易地编辑它，并且是类似yaml的，那么您可能会对它感兴趣。

它受到前面答案的启发，但编写了关联数组(是的，它需要Bash 4.x)而不是基本变量。它以一种允许在不事先了解键的情况下解析数据的方式进行操作，从而可以编写数据驱动的代码。

除了键/值数组元素外，每个数组都有一个包含键名列表的键数组、一个包含子数组名称的子数组和一个引用其父数组的父键。

这是Yamlesque的一个例子:

root_key1: this is value one
root_key2: "this is value two"

drink:
  state: liquid
  coffee:
    best_served: hot
    colour: brown
  orange_juice:
    best_served: cold
    colour: orange

food:
  state: solid
  apple_pie:
    best_served: warm

root_key_3: this is value three

下面是一个如何使用它的例子:

#!/bin/bash
# An example showing how to use Yay

. /usr/lib/yay

# helper to get array value at key
value() { eval echo \${$1[$2]}; }

# print a data collection
print_collection() {
  for k in $(value $1 keys)
  do
    echo "$2$k = $(value $1 $k)"
  done

  for c in $(value $1 children)
  do
    echo -e "$2$c\n$2{"
    print_collection $c "  $2"
    echo "$2}"
  done
}

yay example
print_collection example

输出:

root_key1 = this is value one
root_key2 = this is value two
root_key_3 = this is value three
example_drink
{
  state = liquid
  example_coffee
  {
    best_served = hot
    colour = brown
  }
  example_orange_juice
  {
    best_served = cold
    colour = orange
  }
}
example_food
{
  state = solid
  example_apple_pie
  {
    best_served = warm
  }
}

下面是解析器:

yay_parse() {

   # find input file
   for f in "$1" "$1.yay" "$1.yml"
   do
     [[ -f "$f" ]] && input="$f" && break
   done
   [[ -z "$input" ]] && exit 1

   # use given dataset prefix or imply from file name
   [[ -n "$2" ]] && local prefix="$2" || {
     local prefix=$(basename "$input"); prefix=${prefix%.*}
   }

   echo "declare -g -A $prefix;"

   local s='[[:space:]]*' w='[a-zA-Z0-9_]*' fs=$(echo @|tr @ '\034')
   sed -n -e "s|^\($s\)\($w\)$s:$s\"\(.*\)\"$s\$|\1$fs\2$fs\3|p" \
          -e "s|^\($s\)\($w\)$s:$s\(.*\)$s\$|\1$fs\2$fs\3|p" "$input" |
   awk -F$fs '{
      indent       = length($1)/2;
      key          = $2;
      value        = $3;

      # No prefix or parent for the top level (indent zero)
      root_prefix  = "'$prefix'_";
      if (indent ==0 ) {
        prefix = "";          parent_key = "'$prefix'";
      } else {
        prefix = root_prefix; parent_key = keys[indent-1];
      }

      keys[indent] = key;

      # remove keys left behind if prior row was indented more than this row
      for (i in keys) {if (i > indent) {delete keys[i]}}

      if (length(value) > 0) {
         # value
         printf("%s%s[%s]=\"%s\";\n", prefix, parent_key , key, value);
         printf("%s%s[keys]+=\" %s\";\n", prefix, parent_key , key);
      } else {
         # collection
         printf("%s%s[children]+=\" %s%s\";\n", prefix, parent_key , root_prefix, key);
         printf("declare -g -A %s%s;\n", root_prefix, key);
         printf("%s%s[parent]=\"%s%s\";\n", root_prefix, key, prefix, parent_key);
      }
   }'
}

# helper to load yay data file
yay() { eval $(yay_parse "$@"); }

在链接的源文件中有一些文档，下面是对代码功能的简短解释。

yay_parse函数首先定位输入文件或退出，退出状态为1。接下来，它确定数据集前缀，要么显式指定，要么从文件名派生。

它将有效的bash命令写入其标准输出，如果执行该输出，则定义表示输入数据文件内容的数组。第一个定义了顶级数组:

echo "declare -g -A $prefix;"

注意，数组声明是关联的(-A)，这是Bash版本4的一个特性。声明也是全局的(-g)，所以它们可以在函数中执行，但像yay helper一样可用于全局作用域:

yay() { eval $(yay_parse "$@"); }

最初使用sed处理输入数据。它删除不匹配Yamlesque格式规范的行，然后用ASCII文件分隔符分隔有效的Yamlesque字段，并删除值字段周围的任何双引号。

 local s='[[:space:]]*' w='[a-zA-Z0-9_]*' fs=$(echo @|tr @ '\034')
 sed -n -e "s|^\($s\)\($w\)$s:$s\"\(.*\)\"$s\$|\1$fs\2$fs\3|p" \
        -e "s|^\($s\)\($w\)$s:$s\(.*\)$s\$|\1$fs\2$fs\3|p" "$input" |

这两种表达是相似的;它们的不同之处在于第一个选择了带引号的值，而第二个选择了不带引号的值。

使用文件分隔符(28/十六进制12/八进制034)是因为，作为一个不可打印字符，它不太可能出现在输入数据中。

结果通过管道传输到awk中，每次处理一行输入。它使用FS字符将每个字段分配给一个变量:

indent       = length($1)/2;
key          = $2;
value        = $3;

所有行都有缩进(可能为零)和键，但它们并不都有值。它为包含前导空白的第一个字段的长度除以2的行计算缩进级别。没有缩进的顶级项位于缩进级别0。

接下来，它计算出为当前项使用什么前缀。这是添加到键名中以创建数组名的内容。顶级数组有一个root_prefix，它被定义为数据集名称和一个下划线:

root_prefix  = "'$prefix'_";
if (indent ==0 ) {
  prefix = "";          parent_key = "'$prefix'";
} else {
  prefix = root_prefix; parent_key = keys[indent-1];
}

parent_key是位于当前行缩进级别之上的缩进级别的键，表示当前行所属的集合。集合的键/值对将存储在一个数组中，其名称定义为前缀和parent_key的连接。

对于顶层(缩进级别0)，数据集前缀被用作父键，因此它没有前缀(它被设置为“”)。所有其他数组都以根前缀作为前缀。

接下来，将当前键插入到包含键的(awk-internal)数组中。该数组在整个awk会话中持续存在，因此包含先前行插入的键。键以其缩进作为数组索引插入数组。

keys[indent] = key;

因为这个数组包含前几行的键，所以任何缩进级别大于当前行缩进级别的键都将被移除:

 for (i in keys) {if (i > indent) {delete keys[i]}}

这将留下包含从根缩进级别0到当前行的键链的keys数组。它删除前一行缩进比当前行更深时保留的过时键。

最后一部分输出bash命令:不带值的输入行开始一个新的缩进级别(在YAML中是一个集合)，带值的输入行向当前集合添加一个键。

集合的名称是当前行的前缀和parent_key的组合。

当一个键有一个值时，具有该值的键会被赋给当前集合，如下所示:

printf("%s%s[%s]=\"%s\";\n", prefix, parent_key , key, value);
printf("%s%s[keys]+=\" %s\";\n", prefix, parent_key , key);

第一个语句输出将值赋给一个以键命名的关联数组元素的命令，第二个语句输出将键添加到集合的空格分隔键列表的命令:

<current_collection>[<key>]="<value>";
<current_collection>[keys]+=" <key>";

当一个键没有值时，一个新的集合像这样开始:

printf("%s%s[children]+=\" %s%s\";\n", prefix, parent_key , root_prefix, key);
printf("declare -g -A %s%s;\n", root_prefix, key);

第一个语句输出将新集合添加到当前集合的空格分隔子列表的命令，第二个语句输出为新集合声明一个新的关联数组的命令:

<current_collection>[children]+=" <new_collection>"
declare -g -A <new_collection>;

yay_parse的所有输出都可以通过bash eval或源内置命令解析为bash命令。

如果你需要一个单一的值，你可以使用一个工具将你的YAML文档转换为JSON并提供给jq，例如yq。

sample.yaml的内容:

---
bob:
  item1:
    cats: bananas
  item2:
    cats: apples
  thing:
    cats: oranges

例子:

$ yq -r '.bob["thing"]["cats"]' sample.yaml 
oranges

你可以用golang写成yq的等价形式:

./go-yg -yamlFile /home/user/dev/ansible-firefox/defaults/main.yml -key
firefox_version

返回:

62.0.3

另一种选择是将YAML转换为JSON，然后使用jq与JSON表示进行交互，从其中提取信息或编辑信息。

我写了一个简单的bash脚本，包含这个胶水-见Y2J项目在GitHub上

以下是Stefan Farestam回答的扩展版本:

function parse_yaml {
   local prefix=$2
   local s='[[:space:]]*' w='[a-zA-Z0-9_]*' fs=$(echo @|tr @ '\034')
   sed -ne "s|,$s\]$s\$|]|" \
        -e ":1;s|^\($s\)\($w\)$s:$s\[$s\(.*\)$s,$s\(.*\)$s\]|\1\2: [\3]\n\1  - \4|;t1" \
        -e "s|^\($s\)\($w\)$s:$s\[$s\(.*\)$s\]|\1\2:\n\1  - \3|;p" $1 | \
   sed -ne "s|,$s}$s\$|}|" \
        -e ":1;s|^\($s\)-$s{$s\(.*\)$s,$s\($w\)$s:$s\(.*\)$s}|\1- {\2}\n\1  \3: \4|;t1" \
        -e    "s|^\($s\)-$s{$s\(.*\)$s}|\1-\n\1  \2|;p" | \
   sed -ne "s|^\($s\):|\1|" \
        -e "s|^\($s\)-$s[\"']\(.*\)[\"']$s\$|\1$fs$fs\2|p" \
        -e "s|^\($s\)-$s\(.*\)$s\$|\1$fs$fs\2|p" \
        -e "s|^\($s\)\($w\)$s:$s[\"']\(.*\)[\"']$s\$|\1$fs\2$fs\3|p" \
        -e "s|^\($s\)\($w\)$s:$s\(.*\)$s\$|\1$fs\2$fs\3|p" | \
   awk -F$fs '{
      indent = length($1)/2;
      vname[indent] = $2;
      for (i in vname) {if (i > indent) {delete vname[i]; idx[i]=0}}
      if(length($2)== 0){  vname[indent]= ++idx[indent] };
      if (length($3) > 0) {
         vn=""; for (i=0; i<indent; i++) { vn=(vn)(vname[i])("_")}
         printf("%s%s%s=\"%s\"\n", "'$prefix'",vn, vname[indent], $3);
      }
   }'
}

该版本支持字典和列表的-符号和短符号。以下输入:

global:
  input:
    - "main.c"
    - "main.h"
  flags: [ "-O3", "-fpic" ]
  sample_input:
    -  { property1: value, property2: "value2" }
    -  { property1: "value3", property2: 'value 4' }

产生如下输出:

global_input_1="main.c"
global_input_2="main.h"
global_flags_1="-O3"
global_flags_2="-fpic"
global_sample_input_1_property1="value"
global_sample_input_1_property2="value2"
global_sample_input_2_property1="value3"
global_sample_input_2_property2="value 4"

as you can see the - items automatically get numbered in order to obtain different variable names for each item. In bash there are no multidimensional arrays, so this is one way to work around. Multiple levels are supported. To work around the problem with trailing white spaces mentioned by @briceburg one should enclose the values in single or double quotes. However, there are still some limitations: Expansion of the dictionaries and lists can produce wrong results when values contain commas. Also, more complex structures like values spanning multiple lines (like ssh-keys) are not (yet) supported.

A few words about the code: The first sed command expands the short form of dictionaries { key: value, ...} to regular and converts them to more simple yaml style. The second sed call does the same for the short notation of lists and converts [ entry, ... ] to an itemized list with the - notation. The third sed call is the original one that handled normal dictionaries, now with the addition to handle lists with - and indentations. The awk part introduces an index for each indentation level and increases it when the variable name is empty (i.e. when processing a list). The current value of the counters are used instead of the empty vname. When going up one level, the counters are zeroed.

编辑:我已经为此创建了一个github存储库。