I want to customize a string with * characters, except the first and last 3 characters in the string, as I don't want to print this string in logs.

For example: if the string is abctextxyz, I want it changed to abc****xyz

I tried to print the string with * except the first and last 3 characters, but hard-coding it to a 7 letters string. I would like to customize it for an arbitrary length.

If the string is of 6 character or less, it should be printed as it is.

Here is a bash script that I have created for this purpose:

#!/bin/bash

STRING1="testabctest";

echo $STRING1;

STRING2=${STRING1:0:3};

echo $STRING2;

STRING3=${STRING1:(-3)};

echo $STRING3;

STRING4=$STRING2"****"$STRING3;

echo $STRING4