# Painless script arrays
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-script-arrays/276162
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Tags:** elastic-stack-alerting, painless
**Created:** [June 16, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-script-arrays/276162 "2021-06-16T15:51:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@nickgregz](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/nickgregz)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-script-arrays/276162/1 "2021-06-16T15:51:40Z")
Hello,
Is there a way to easily create and empty string array in Painless script, than add a string to it if it doesn't already exist in the array. I can't seem to find proper examples of arrays for Painless script anywhere.
Thanks!
---
### Author:  [@Iker](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Iker)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-script-arrays/276162/2 "2021-06-16T18:46:06Z")
Painless is mostly Java, so you can use the same logic and the majority of the methods, a basic example will be:
```auto
String[] myStrings = new String[4];
boolean exist = false;
myStrings[0] = "Hello";
myStrings[1] = "World";
myStrings[2] = "From";
myStrings[3] = "Java";
String textInput = "Hello";
for (int i = 0; i < myStrings.length; ++i) {
if (textInput.equals(myStrings[i])) {
exist = true;
}
}
return exist;
```
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/painless-script-arrays/276162/3 "2021-07-14T18:46:22Z")
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