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printf(C)


printf -- print formatted output

Syntax

printf format [ argument ... ]

Description

printf formats the given arguments according to the format string, and writes them to the standard output.

format is a character string that can contain:

printf repeatedly applies format until all arguments have been displayed. The output for a missing argument will be 0 (zero) or a null string as appropriate.

A conversion specification has the form:

   %[n$][flags][width][.precision] specifier
Between the initial ``%'' and the specifier, there may be an argument positional specifier (n$), argument display flags, and values specifying width and precision.

An argument positional specifier selects the nth argument. The maximum value of n specifies the number of arguments to be processed at a time. Further arguments are processed by applying format to them alone. Argument positional specifiers, if used, must be provided for all the specifiers.

One or more of the following flags may appear:


-
Justify the result of the conversion to the left within the field (the default is to justify to the right). This is meaningless unless a width is specified.

+
Precede the result of a signed numeric conversion with a sign (+ or -) (the default is to output minus signs ``-'' only).

<Space>
Precede the result of a signed numeric conversion with a space or minus sign ``-''. This flag is ignored if the plus sign flag ``+'' is given.

#
With the ``o'', ``x'', and ``X'' specifiers, precede the converted numeric argument with ``0'', ``0x'', and ``0X'' respectively. With the ``e'', ``E'', ``f'', ``g'', and ``G'' specifiers, the radix character (decimal point) is always present in the printed value. Additionally, this flag displays any trailing zeros for the ``g'', and ``G'' keyletters (these are usually removed).

0
If the minus sign flag ``-'' is not present and no precision is specified, pad numeric values with the zero digit ``0'' instead of space.
width is a decimal digit string specifying a minimum field width. If the converted value has fewer characters than the field width, it is padded on the left (or right, if the left adjustment flag "-" has been specified). The padding is done with spaces unless the first character of width is a zero, in which case the padding is done with zeros.

precision is a decimal digit string succeeding a dot ``.'' specifying the minimum number of digits to appear for the ``d'', ``o'', or ``x'' conversions, or the maximum number of characters to be printed in the ``s'' conversion.

One of the following conversion specifiers must appear:

Keyletter Prints argument as
b a string that may contain the following backslash escape sequences:

  • escape sequences that are converted into the characters they represent: ``\\'' (backslash), ``\a'' (alert), ``\b'' (backspace), ``\f'' (formfeed), ``\n'' (newline), ``\r'' (carriage return), ``\t'' (horizontal tab), ``\v'' (vertical tab)

  • ``\c'', which is not written, and which causes printf to ignore any remaining characters in format

  • ``\0nnn'', where nnn is a 1, 2 or 3-digit octal number to be converted to a byte with the corresponding octal value
c the character referred to by the least significant 8 bits of the numeric value of argument; truncates argument to the nearest integer
d a decimal integer (0 if no arguments are available); truncates argument to the nearest integer
e a floating point number (0.0 if no arguments are available); the format used is ``[-]d.ddde[+|-]dd'' where the number of digits after the decimal point is controlled by the value of precision
E a floating point number (0.0 if no arguments are available); the format used is ``[-]d.dddE[+|-]dd'' where the number of digits after the decimal point is controlled by the value of precision
f a floating point number (0.0 if no arguments are available); the format used is ``[-]ddd.ddd'' where the number of digits after the decimal point is controlled by the value of precision
g a floating point number (0.0 if no arguments are available); the format used is the most compact result from applying the ``e'' and ``f'' conversions
G a floating point number (0.0 if no arguments are available); the format used is the most compact result from applying the ``E'' and ``f'' conversions
i a decimal integer (0 if no arguments are available); truncates argument to the nearest integer
o an unsigned octal number (0 if no arguments are available); truncates argument to the nearest integer
s a string
u an unsigned decimal integer (0 if no arguments are available); truncates argument to the nearest integer
x an unsigned hexadecimal number displayed in lowercase display (0 if no arguments are available); truncates argument to the nearest integer
X an unsigned hexadecimal number displayed in uppercase display (0 if no arguments are available); truncates argument to the nearest integer
% prints a ``%''; no argument is converted

 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |Keyletter  | Prints argument as                     |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |b          | a string that may contain the          |
 |           | following backslash escape sequences:  |
 |           |                                        |
 |           | +  escape sequences that are converted |
 |           |    into the characters they represent: |
 |           |    ``\\'' (backslash), ``\a'' (alert), |
 |           |    ``\b'' (backspace), ``\f''          |
 |           |    (formfeed), ``\n'' (newline),       |
 |           |    ``\r'' (carriage return), ``\t''    |
 |           |    (horizontal tab), ``\v'' (vertical  |
 |           |    tab)                                |
 |           |                                        |
 |           | +  ``\c'', which is not written, and   |
 |           |    which causes printf to ignore any   |
 |           |    remaining characters in format      |
 |           |                                        |
 |           | +  ``\0nnn'', where nnn is a 1, 2 or   |
 |           |    3-digit octal number to be          |
 |           |    converted to a byte with the        |
 |           |    corresponding octal value           |
 |           |                                        |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |c          | the character referred to by the least |
 |           | significant 8 bits of the numeric      |
 |           | value of argument; truncates argument  |
 |           | to the nearest integer                 |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |d          | a decimal integer (0 if no arguments   |
 |           | are available); truncates argument to  |
 |           | the nearest integer                    |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |e          | a floating point number (0.0 if no     |
 |           | arguments are available); the format   |
 |           | used is ``[-]d.ddde[+|-]dd'' where the |
 |           | number of digits after the decimal     |
 |           | point is controlled by the value of    |
 |           | precision                              |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |E          | a floating point number (0.0 if no     |
 |           | arguments are available); the format   |
 |           | used is ``[-]d.dddE[+|-]dd'' where the |
 |           | number of digits after the decimal     |
 |           | point is controlled by the value of    |
 |           | precision                              |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |f          | a floating point number (0.0 if no     |
 |           | arguments are available); the format   |
 |           | used is ``[-]ddd.ddd'' where the       |
 |           | number of digits after the decimal     |
 |           | point is controlled by the value of    |
 |           | precision                              |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |g          | a floating point number (0.0 if no     |
 |           | arguments are available); the format   |
 |           | used is the most compact result from   |
 |           | applying the ``e'' and ``f''           |
 |           | conversions                            |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |G          | a floating point number (0.0 if no     |
 |           | arguments are available); the format   |
 |           | used is the most compact result from   |
 |           | applying the ``E'' and ``f''           |
 |           | conversions                            |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |i          | a decimal integer (0 if no arguments   |
 |           | are available); truncates argument to  |
 |           | the nearest integer                    |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |o          | an unsigned octal number (0 if no      |
 |           | arguments are available); truncates    |
 |           | argument to the nearest integer        |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |s          | a string                               |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |u          | an unsigned decimal integer (0 if no   |
 |           | arguments are available); truncates    |
 |           | argument to the nearest integer        |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |x          | an unsigned hexadecimal number         |
 |           | displayed in lowercase display (0 if   |
 |           | no arguments are available); truncates |
 |           | argument to the nearest integer        |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |X          | an unsigned hexadecimal number         |
 |           | displayed in uppercase display (0 if   |
 |           | no arguments are available); truncates |
 |           | argument to the nearest integer        |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
 |%          | prints a ``%''; no argument is         |
 |           | converted                              |
 +-----------+----------------------------------------+
If the first character of an argument is a single quote ``''' or a double quote ``"'', the value to be converted will be the numeric value of the next character in the argument in the current codeset.

The following (backslash) escape sequences are recognized within format strings:

Escape sequence Meaning
\\ backslash
\a alert or bell
\b backspace
\c ignore any remaining characters in the format string, and any remaining arguments (use with ``b'' specifier only)
\f formfeed
\n newline
\r carriage return
\t horizontal tab
\v vertical tab
\0nnn the character with value given by the one, two, or three digit octal number nnn in the current codeset (use with ``b'' specifier only)

 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |Escape sequence | Meaning                                |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |\\              | backslash                              |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |\a              | alert or bell                          |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |\b              | backspace                              |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |\c              | ignore any remaining characters in the |
 |                | format string, and any remaining       |
 |                | arguments (use with ``b'' specifier    |
 |                | only)                                  |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |\f              | formfeed                               |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |\n              | newline                                |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |\r              | carriage return                        |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |\t              | horizontal tab                         |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |\v              | vertical tab                           |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+
 |\0nnn           | the character with value given by the  |
 |                | one, two, or three digit octal number  |
 |                | nnn in the current codeset (use with   |
 |                | ``b'' specifier only)                  |
 +----------------+----------------------------------------+

Examples

Alert and request some input from a user:
   #!/bin/ksh
   

printf "\aPlease fill in the following\nName: " read name printf "Phone number: " read phone

Display the user ID of each user in /etc/passwd:
   #!/bin/ksh
   

IFS=":" FORMAT="%s's UID is %d\n"

while true do read -r uname passwd uid remainder || exit printf $FORMAT $uname $uid done < /etc/passwd

printf "%-5d%4d" 1 \`22 333 produces the output:

   1      50
   333     0
In this example, the format specification is used twice because there are three arguments for two conversion specifications in the format string. printf prints a zero ``0'' for the missing fourth argument.

The ``-'' flag in the first conversion specifier causes the first and third arguments to be displayed left-justified.

The second argument is printed as the decimal string corresponding to the ASCII value (``50'') of the character ``2'' because it was preceded by a single quote. The second ``2'' is ignored. The quote is escaped with backslash to prevent the shell trying to find a closing quote; alternatively, one of the following strings could be used:

   \"22
   "'22"
Unlike printf(S-osr5), the ``*'' character cannot be used to stand for a width or precision value. This functionality can be simulated using the string concatenation of the shell, and defining shell variables to hold the width and precision values:
   $ width=8
   $ precision=8
   $ printf "[% "$width"."$precision"d] \n" 1 -1 100 99999
   [    0001]
   [   -0001]
   [    0100]
   [   99999]
An example of using the argument positional specifiers (note that the ``$''s are protected from being expanded by the shell):
   $ printf '[%2$d %1$s]\n' string 10
   [10 string]
   $ printf "[%3\$d %1\$s]\n" a b c d e f
   [c a]
   [f d]

Limitations

printf cannot format output from bc(C) since it does not support arbitrary precision.

printf makes no special provision for dealing with multibyte characters when using the %c conversion specification, or when a precision is specified in a %b or %s conversion specification. Applications should be extremely cautious using either of these features when there are multibyte characters in the character set.

See also

awk(C), bc(C), echo(C), ksh(C), printf(S-osr5)

Standards conformance

printf is conformant with:

ISO/IEC DIS 9945-2:1992, Information technology - Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) - Part 2: Shell and Utilities (IEEE Std 1003.2-1992);
X/Open CAE Specification, Commands and Utilities, Issue 4, 1992.


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SCO OpenServer Release 6.0.0 -- 05 June 2007