make_array_from_quoted_strings.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash 

function token_to_array() {
	local -n array=$1
	local str=$2
	local i=0 c quote start=0
	while [ $i -lt ${#str} ]; do
		c=${str:$i:1}
		case "$c" in
			\\) i=$(( i + 1 ))
				;;
			\"|\'|\`)
				[ -z "$quote" ] && quote=$c || { [ $quote = $c ] && quote=; }
				;;
			' '|\t)
				if [ -z "$quote" ]; then
					[ $start -lt $i ] && array+=("${str:$start:$(( i - start ))}")
					start=$(( i + 1 ))
				fi
				;;
		esac
		i=$(( i + 1 ))
	done
	[ $start -lt ${#str} ] && array+=("${str:$start}")
}

function test1() {
	local my_array
	token_to_array my_array "$@"
	declare -p my_array 
}

#test1 "$@"
test1 '  12             34 A="1 2" \"q    '
test1 's  12             34 A="1 2" \"q q'