Unix read command (bash)

[kbjradmin]

i'm working on a script that needs to read the variable $1, one character at a time and assign those characters to an array. i tried to use this line:

echo $1 | read -n 1 -a chars

however, everytime i try to read the variable $chars with echo ${chars[*]}, it turns up empty.

please help.

[quantum1]

Can you post the portion of script where you use the above command? Thanks.