function reorder { (( x[1] < x && (x=x[1], x[1]=$x) )) echo "${x[@]}" } x=(123 456) reorder x=(456 123) reorder unset x unset -f reorder function reorder { (( x[1] < x[0] && (x=x[1], x[1]=$x) )) echo "${x[@]}" } x=(123 456) reorder x=(456 123) reorder unset x unset -f reorder function reorder { (( x[1] < x[0] && (x[0]=x[1], x[1]=$x) )) echo "${x[@]}" } x=(123 456) reorder x=(456 123) reorder unset -f reorder n=0 ; (( (a[n]=++n)<7&&a[0])); echo "${a[@]:1}" n=0 a="(a[n]=++n)<7&&a[0]"; ((a[0])); echo "${a[@]:1}" n=0 a="(a[n]=n++)<7&&a"; ((a)); echo "${a[@]:1}"