strSlices

#!/usr/bin/env bash

if [ "$1" = '--help' ]; then
	exit 1
elif [ "$1" = '--version' ]; then
	exit 1
fi

# TODO: Inclusive/exclusive flags
declare -a starts=()
declare -a ends=()
declare strings=()
shopt -s extglob globasciiranges
while (($# > 0)); do
	if [[ "$1" =~ ^-?[[:digit:]]+$ ]]; then
		starts+=("$1")
		if [[ "$2" =~ ^-?[[:digit:]]+$ ]]; then
			ends+=("$2")
			shift
		else
			ends+=('')
		fi
	elif [[ "$1" =~ ^(-?[[:digit:]]+):(-?[[:digit:]]+)$ ]]; then
		starts+=("${BASH_REMATCH[1]}")
		ends+=("${BASH_REMATCH[2]}")
	elif [ "$1" = '--' ]; then
		shift
		break
	else
		strings+=("$1")
	fi
	shift
done
strings+=("$*")
declare -r string="${strings[*]}" starts ends
# TODO: Option to enable escape sequences
for ((i=0; i < ${#starts}; i++)); do
	start="${starts[$i]}"
	end="${ends[$i]}"
	if [ -z "$end" ]; then
		echo -nE "${string: $start}"
	else
		echo -nE "${string: $start:$end}"
	fi
done
exit