PARSET(1)

✨ PARSET(1) ✨

okay bestie, this is page 1 of the parallel manual, and it's literally about parset — the girl who sets your shell variables in parallel. no cap. 🫶

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

parset — set shell variables in parallel 💅

---

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

parset variablename [options for GNU Parallel]

env_parset variablename [options for GNU Parallel]

---

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so, parset is a shell function that takes the output from GNU parallel and puts it into shell variables. iconic behavior honestly.

env_parset is a shell function that puts the output from env_parallel into shell variables. same vibe, different source.

Both the parset and env_parset functions are defined as part of env_parallel. so they come as a little bundle, you don't install them separately. 💖

If variablename is a single variable name, it gets treated as the destination variable. If that variable is defined as an associative array (like with typeset -A myassoc), then bestie we're using that. Otherwise the variable will be made into a normal array. so it just adapts, main character energy.

If variablename contains multiple names separated by , or space, then those names are the destination variables. heads up tho: the number of names must be at least the number of jobs. not negotiable, that's the rule. 🌈

---

💅 OPTIONS 💅

Same as GNU parallel, but they are put after the destination variable. that's the whole twist. the options go second, bestie.

---

🧚 SUPPORTED SHELLS 🧚

🌟 Bash/Zsh/Ksh/Mksh 🌟

✨ Examples ✨

Put output into myarray:

parset myarray seq 3 ::: 4 5 6
echo "${myarray[1]}"

Put output into vars $seq, $pwd, $ls:

parset "seq pwd ls" ::: "seq 10" pwd ls
echo "$ls"

Put output into vars $seq, $pwd, $ls:

into_vars=(seq pwd ls)
parset "${into_vars[*]}" ::: "seq 10" pwd ls
echo "$ls"

Put output into associative array myassoc (not supported for mksh 😭):

typeset -A myassoc
parset myassoc seq ::: 4 5 ::: 6 7
echo "${myassoc[4 7]}"

The commands to run can be an array:

cmd=("echo first" "echo '<<joe  \"double  space\"  cartoon>>'" "pwd")
parset data ::: "${cmd[@]}"
echo "${data[1]}"
echo "${data[2]}"

parset can read from stdin (standard input) if it is a file:

parset res echo < parallel_input_file

but parset can not be part of a pipe. in particular this means it cannot read from a pipe or write to a pipe:

seq 10 | parset res echo Does not work

🫠 yeah she said what she said. no pipe. that one just doesn't work, don't fight it.

but must instead use a tempfile:

seq 10 > parallel_input
parset res echo :::: parallel_input
echo "${res[1]}"
echo "${res[9]}"

or a FIFO:

mkfifo input_fifo
seq 30 > input_fifo &
parset res echo :::: input_fifo
echo "${res[1]}"
echo "${res[29]}"

or Bash/Zsh/Ksh process substitution:

parset res echo :::: <(seq 100)
echo "${res[1]}"
echo "${res[99]}"

💖 Installation 💖

Put this in the relevant $HOME/.bashrc or $HOME/.zshenv or $HOME/.kshrc:

. env_parallel.bash
. env_parallel.zsh
source `which env_parallel.ksh`

E.g. by doing:

echo '. env_parallel.bash' >> $HOME/.bashrc
echo '. env_parallel.zsh' >> $HOME/.zshenv
echo 'source `which env_parallel.ksh`' >> $HOME/.kshrc

or by doing:

env_parallel --install

---

🍓 ash/dash (FreeBSD's /bin/sh) 🍓

✨ Examples ✨

ash does not support arrays. 💀

Put output into vars $seq, $pwd, $ls:

parset "seq pwd ls" ::: "seq 10" pwd ls
echo "$ls"

parset can read from stdin (standard input) if it is a file:

parset res1,res2,res3 echo < parallel_input_file

but parset can not be part of a pipe. in particular this means it cannot read from a pipe or write to a pipe:

seq 3 | parset res1,res2,res3 echo Does not work

but must instead use a tempfile:

seq 3 > parallel_input
parset res1,res2,res3 echo :::: parallel_input
echo "$res1"
echo "$res2"
echo "$res3"

or a FIFO:

mkfifo input_fifo
seq 3 > input_fifo &
parset res1,res2,res3 echo :::: input_fifo
echo "$res1"
echo "$res2"
echo "$res3"

💖 Installation 💖

Put the relevant one of these into $HOME/.profile:

. env_parallel.sh
. env_parallel.ash
. env_parallel.dash

E.g. by doing:

echo '. env_parallel.ash' >> $HOME/.bashrc

or by doing:

env_parallel --install

---

👑 EXIT STATUS 👑

Same as GNU parallel. literally the same, go check that page bestie.

---

🌈 AUTHOR 🌈

When using GNU parallel for a publication please cite:

O. Tange (2011): GNU Parallel - The Command-Line Power Tool, ;login: The USENIX Magazine, February 2011:42-47.

This helps funding further development; and it won't cost you a cent. If you pay 10000 EUR you should feel free to use GNU Parallel without citing. (fr fr, that's the deal they're offering 💸)

Copyright (C) 2007-10-18 Ole Tange, http://ole.tange.dk

Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Ole Tange, http://ole.tange.dk

Copyright (C) 2010-2026 Ole Tange, http://ole.tange.dk and Free Software Foundation, Inc.

---

⭐ LICENSE ⭐

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/>.

📜 Documentation license I 📜

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this documentation under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the file LICENSES/GFDL-1.3-or-later.txt.

📜 Documentation license II 📜

You are free:

• to Share to copy, distribute and transmit the work
• to Remix to adapt the work

Under the following conditions:

• Attribution You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
• Share Alike If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same, similar or a compatible license.

With the understanding that:

• Waiver — Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
• Public Domain — Where the work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
• Other Rights — In no way are any of the following rights affected by the license:
  • Your fair dealing or fair use rights, or other applicable copyright exceptions and limitations;
  • The author's moral rights;
  • Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.
• Notice — For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work.

A copy of the full license is included in the file as LICENCES/CC-BY-SA-4.0.txt

---

🦄 DEPENDENCIES 🦄

parset uses GNU parallel. that's the one dependency, she's loyal like that. 💜

---

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

parallel(1), env_parallel(1), bash(1).

---

and that's the whole page bestie, you ate it. this little gem comes from the parallel source, dated 2026-01-31 (version 20260122), and it's page 1 of the manual — PARSET(1), periodt. 🎀✨🦋