PRINTF(III) 9/17/73 PRINTF(III)





PRINTF(III)                  9/17/73                  PRINTF(III)







NAME

     printf - formatted print



SYNOPSIS

     printf(format, arg , ...);
                       1
     char *format;



DESCRIPTION

     Printf converts, formats, and prints its arguments after the

     first  under  control  of  the  first  argument.   The first

     argument is a character string which contains two  types  of

     objects:  plain  characters,  which are simply copied to the

     output stream, and conversion specifications, each of  which

     causes  conversion  and  printing  of  the  next  successive

     argument to printf.



     Each conversion specification is introduced by the character

     %.  Following the %, there may be



         -  an optional  minus  sign  `-'  which  specifies  left

           adjustment  of the converted argument in the indicated

           field;



         -  an optional digit string specifying a field width; if

           the  converted  argument has fewer characters than the

           field width it will be blank-padded on  the  left  (or

           right,  if  the  left-adjustment  indicator  has  been

           given) to make up the field width;



         -  an optional period ``.'' which serves to separate the

           field width from the next digit string;



         -  an optional digit string (precision) which  specifies

           the  number  of  digits  to  appear  after the decimal

           point, for e- and f-conversion, or the maximum  number

           of characters to be printed from a string;



         -  a character which indicates the type of conversion to

           be applied.



     The conversion characters and their meanings are



        d   The argument is converted to decimal notation.



        o   The argument is converted to octal  notation.   ``0''

           will always appear as the first digit.



        f   The argument is converted to decimal notation in  the

           style ``[-]ddd.ddd'' where the number of d's after the

           decimal point is equal to the precision  specification

           for  the  argument.   If  the  precision is missing, 6

           digits are given; if the precision is explicitly 0, no

           digits and no decimal point are printed.  The argument

           should be float or double.



        e   The  argument  is  converted  in   the   style   ``[-

           ]d.ddde+dd''  where  there  is  one  digit  before the

           decimal point and the number after  is  equal  to  the

           precision  specification  for  the  argument; when the

           precision is missing,  6  digits  are  produced.   The

           argument should be a float or double quantity.



        c   The argument character or character-pair  is  printed

           if non-null.



        s   The argument is  taken  to  be  a  string  (character

           pointer)  and  characters  from the string are printed

           until  a  null  character  or  until  the  number   of

           characters indicated by the precision specification is

           reached; however if the precision is 0 or missing  all

           characters up to a null are printed.



        l   The argument is taken to be an unsigned integer which

           is  converted  to decimal and printed (the result will

           be in the range 0 to 65535).



     If no recognizable  character  appears  after  the  %,  that

     character  is  printed;  thus % may be printed by use of the

     string %%.  In no case does a non-existent  or  small  field

     width  cause truncation of a field; padding takes place only

     if the specified  field  width  exceeds  the  actual  width.

     Characters  generated  by  printf  are  printed  by  calling

     putchar.



SEE ALSO

     putchar (III)



BUGS

     Very wide fields (>128 characters) fail.
squoze.net
