Could you help me, why this script works when sourced (or even directly on console) and does not work on a script?
I have checked and in any case I'm using the same bash in /bin/ and always 4.4.19(1)-release (checked with $BASH_VERSION).
Moreover I tried removing shebang but nothing changes.
#!/bin/bash
fname=c8_m81l_55.fit
bname=${fname%%+(_)+([0-9]).fit}
echo $bname
GIving these results:
test:~$ ./test.sh
c8_m81l_55.fit
test:~$ . ./test.sh
c8_m81l
Bash does not recognize +(pattern) syntax unless extglobs are enabled, and they are disabled by default. Apparently your bash setup enables them in interactive sessions; that's why your script works only when sourced in an interactive shell.
To fix that, either enable extglobs within the script by this command:
shopt -s extglob
Or use an alternative that works irrespective of shell's interactiveness:
bname=$(sed 's/__*[0-9][0-9]*\.fit$//' <<< $fname)
# with GNU sed it'd look like:
bname=$(sed -E 's/_+[0-9]+\.fit$//' <<< $fname)