xref: /netbsd-src/usr.bin/printf/printf.1 (revision 76dfffe33547c37f8bdd446e3e4ab0f3c16cea4b)
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35.\"	from: @(#)printf.1	5.11 (Berkeley) 7/24/91
36.\"	$Id: printf.1,v 1.5 1995/07/07 23:00:13 jtc Exp $
37.\"
38.Dd November 5, 1993
39.Dt PRINTF 1
40.Os
41.Sh NAME
42.Nm printf
43.Nd formatted output
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.Nm printf
46.Ar format
47.Op Ar arguments  ...
48.Sh DESCRIPTION
49.Nm Printf
50formats and prints its arguments, after the first, under control
51of the
52.Ar format  .
53The
54.Ar format
55is a character string which contains three types of objects: plain characters,
56which are simply copied to standard output, character escape sequences which
57are converted and copied to the standard output, and format specifications,
58each of which causes printing of the next successive
59.Ar argument  .
60.Pp
61The
62.Ar arguments
63after the first are treated as strings if the corresponding format is
64either
65.Cm b ,
66.Cm c
67or
68.Cm s ;
69otherwise it is evaluated as a C constant, with the following extensions:
70.Pp
71.Bl -bullet -offset indent -compact
72.It
73A leading plus or minus sign is allowed.
74.It
75If the leading character is a single or double quote, the value is the
76.Tn ASCII
77code of the next character.
78.El
79.Pp
80The format string is reused as often as necessary to satisfy the
81.Ar arguments  .
82Any extra format specifications are evaluated with zero or the null
83string.
84.Pp
85Character escape sequences are in backslash notation as defined in
86.St -ansiC .
87The characters and their meanings
88are as follows:
89.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent
90.It Cm \ea
91Write a <bell> character.
92.It Cm \eb
93Write a <backspace> character.
94.It Cm \ef
95Write a <form-feed> character.
96.It Cm \en
97Write a <new-line> character.
98.It Cm \er
99Write a <carriage return> character.
100.It Cm \et
101Write a <tab> character.
102.It Cm \ev
103Write a <vertical tab> character.
104.It Cm \e\'
105Write a <single quote> character.
106.It Cm \e\e
107Write a backslash character.
108.It Cm \e Ns Ar num
109Write an 8-bit character whose
110.Tn ASCII
111value is the 1-, 2-, or 3-digit
112octal number
113.Ar num .
114.El
115.Pp
116Each format specification is introduced by the percent character
117(``%'').
118The remainder of the format specification includes,
119in the following order:
120.Bl -tag -width Ds
121.It "Zero or more of the following flags:"
122.Bl -tag -width Ds
123.It Cm #
124A `#' character
125specifying that the value should be printed in an ``alternate form''.
126For
127.Cm c  ,
128.Cm d ,
129and
130.Cm s  ,
131formats, this option has no effect.  For the
132.Cm o
133formats the precision of the number is increased to force the first
134character of the output string to a zero.  For the
135.Cm x
136.Pq Cm X
137format, a non-zero result has the string
138.Li 0x
139.Pq Li 0X
140prepended to it.  For
141.Cm e  ,
142.Cm E ,
143.Cm f  ,
144.Cm g ,
145and
146.Cm G  ,
147formats, the result will always contain a decimal point, even if no
148digits follow the point (normally, a decimal point only appears in the
149results of those formats if a digit follows the decimal point).  For
150.Cm g
151and
152.Cm G
153formats, trailing zeros are not removed from the result as they
154would otherwise be;
155.It Cm \&\-
156A minus sign `\-' which specifies
157.Em left adjustment
158of the output in the indicated field;
159.It Cm \&+
160A `+' character specifying that there should always be
161a sign placed before the number when using signed formats.
162.It Sq \&\ \&
163A space specifying that a blank should be left before a positive number
164for a signed format.  A `+' overrides a space if both are used;
165.It Cm \&0
166A zero `0' character indicating that zero-padding should be used
167rather than blank-padding.  A `\-' overrides a `0' if both are used;
168.El
169.It "Field Width:"
170An optional digit string specifying a
171.Em field width ;
172if the output string has fewer characters than the field width it will
173be blank-padded on the left (or right, if the left-adjustment indicator
174has been given) to make up the field width (note that a leading zero
175is a flag, but an embedded zero is part of a field width);
176.It Precision:
177An optional period,
178.Sq Cm \&.\& ,
179followed by an optional digit string giving a
180.Em precision
181which specifies the number of digits to appear after the decimal point,
182for
183.Cm e
184and
185.Cm f
186formats, or the maximum number of characters to be printed
187from a string; if the digit string is missing, the precision is treated
188as zero;
189.It Format:
190A character which indicates the type of format to use (one of
191.Cm diouxXfwEgGbcs ) .
192.El
193.Pp
194A field width or precision may be
195.Sq Cm \&*
196instead of a digit string.
197In this case an
198.Ar argument
199supplies the field width or precision.
200.Pp
201The format characters and their meanings are:
202.Bl -tag -width Fl
203.It Cm diouXx
204The
205.Ar argument
206is printed as a signed decimal (d or i), unsigned octal, unsigned decimal,
207or unsigned hexadecimal (X or x), respectively.
208.It Cm f
209The
210.Ar argument
211is printed in the style
212.Sm off
213.Pf [\-]ddd Cm \&. No ddd
214.Sm on
215where the number of d's
216after the decimal point is equal to the precision specification for
217the argument.
218If the precision is missing, 6 digits are given; if the precision
219is explicitly 0, no digits and no decimal point are printed.
220.It Cm eE
221The
222.Ar argument
223is printed in the style
224.Sm off
225.Pf [\-]d Cm \&. No ddd Cm e No \\*(Pmdd
226.Sm on
227where there
228is one digit before the decimal point and the number after is equal to
229the precision specification for the argument; when the precision is
230missing, 6 digits are produced.
231An upper-case E is used for an `E' format.
232.It Cm gG
233The
234.Ar argument
235is printed in style
236.Cm f
237or in style
238.Cm e
239.Pq Cm E
240whichever gives full precision in minimum space.
241.It Cm b
242Characters from the string
243.Ar argument
244are printed with backslash-escape sequences expanded.
245.It Cm c
246The first character of
247.Ar argument
248is printed.
249.It Cm s
250Characters from the string
251.Ar argument
252are printed until the end is reached or until the number of characters
253indicated by the precision specification is reached; however if the
254precision is 0 or missing, all characters in the string are printed.
255.It Cm \&%
256Print a `%'; no argument is used.
257.El
258.Pp
259In no case does a non-existent or small field width cause truncation of
260a field; padding takes place only if the specified field width exceeds
261the actual width.
262.Sh RETURN VALUES
263.Nm Printf
264exits 0 on success, 1 on failure.
265.Sh SEE ALSO
266.Xr echo 1 ,
267.Xr printf 3
268.Sh STANDARDS
269The
270.Nm printf
271utility conforms to
272.St -p1003.2-92 .
273.Sh BUGS
274Since arguments are translated from
275.Tn ASCII
276to floating-point, and
277then back again, floating-point precision may be lost.
278