printf by example
C’stdio.h provides a set of function to print values on the screen following
a provided format: printf, sprintf, fprintf, dprintf, snprintf and
their counterparts to handle variadic arguments vprintf, vsprintf,
vfprintf, vdprintf, vsnprintf.
This document is just a set of example to remember how to specify the format.
The format has the following format:
%[<flags>][<field's width>][.<precision>][<length modifier>]<conversion specifier>
Generic Examples
Complete documentation: man 3 printf
Strings/Characters
| Format |
Values |
Display |
Comments |
%c%c%c%c%c |
‘H’, ‘e’, ‘l’, ‘l’, ‘o’ |
Hello |
|
%s %s |
“Hello”, “World” |
Hello World |
|
%10s %s |
“Hello”, “World” |
Hello World |
Right justification by default |
%-10s %s |
“Hello”, “World” |
Hello World |
Left justification on-demand |
%10s |
“LongLongWord” |
LongLongWord |
Minimal width |
%10.5s |
“LongLongWord” |
LongL |
Limit the output |
%-10.5s |
“LongLongWord” |
LongL |
Limit the output left justified |
Integers
| Format |
Values |
Display |
Comments |
%d |
0xDEADBEEF |
-559038737 |
%d and %i are aliases |
%+d |
42 |
+42 |
Prefix with ‘+’ for positive numbers |
%u |
0xDEADBEEF |
3735928559 |
Unsigned representation |
%o |
0xDEADBEEF |
33653337357 |
Octal representation |
%x |
0xDEADBEEF |
deadbeef |
Hexadecimal representation |
%X |
0xDEADBEEF |
DEADBEEF |
Hexadecimal upper case |
Floats
| Format |
Values |
Display |
Comments |
%.3f |
double faraday |
96485.332 |
Precision is the number of digits after |
%f |
double faraday |
96485.332123 |
Precision is 6 by default |
%.9g |
double faraday |
96485.3321 |
Precision is the total number of digits |
%g |
double faraday |
96485.3 |
Precision is still 6 by default |
%.3g |
double faraday |
9.65e+04 |
|
%+.9f |
double faraday |
+96485.332123300 |
More decimals |
%e |
double faraday |
9.648533e+04 |
Exponent notation |
%E |
double faraday |
9.648533E+04 |
Exponent upper case |
%015.2f |
double faraday |
000000096485.33 |
Padding with 0 |
% 15.2f |
double faraday |
96485.33 |
Padding with spaces (default) |
%0+15.2f |
double faraday |
+00000096485.33 |
Some flags combinations |
%a |
double faraday |
0x1.78e555060857cp+16 |
Hexadecimal notation |
Pointers
| Format |
Values |
Display |
Comments |
%p |
&someFunction |
0x559d6478a2f7 |
|
%p |
&someVariable |
0x559d6478d010 |
|
Glibc extensions
| Format |
Values |
Display |
Comments |
%m |
nothing |
Success |
Display errno |
%m |
nothing |
No such file or directory |
Display errno after an error |
Go Extensions
Complete documentation: go doc fmt
Generic
| Format |
Values |
Display |
Comments |
| %v |
{1 3.14} |
{1 3.14} |
Generic value |
| %+v |
{1 3.14} |
{a:1 b:3.14} |
Value with field names |
| %#v |
{1 3.14} |
main.S{a:1, b:3.14} |
Go-syntax |
| %T |
{1 3.14} |
main.S |
Type |
Strings
| Format |
Values |
Display |
Comments |
| %q |
“Hello World!” |
"Hello World!" |
Quoted strings |
| % x |
“\xde\xad\xbe\xbe” |
de ad be ef |
Spaced hexadecimal |
Booleans
| Format |
Values |
Display |
Comments |
| %t/%t |
true, false |
true/false |
Boolean |
Integers
| Format |
Values |
Display |
Comments |
| %b |
127 |
1111111 |
Base 2 |
| %q |
127 |
'\u007f' |
Singly quoted character literal |
Slices
| Format |
Values |
Display |
Comments |
| %p |
[“Hello” “World”] |
0xc0000c4020 |
Address of the first element in a slice |