9897c45f31
This was removed in 2001 but I think it is appropriate to add it back: * I do not want to encourage people to write fragile and non-portable echo commands by making printf much slower than echo. * Recent versions of Autoconf use it a lot. * Almost no software still wants to support systems that do not have printf(1) at all. * In many other shells printf is already a builtin. Side effect: printf is now always the builtin version (which behaves identically to /usr/bin/printf) and cannot be overridden via PATH (except via the undocumented %builtin mechanism). Code size increases about 5K on i386. Embedded folks might want to replace /usr/bin/printf with a hard link to /usr/bin/alias.
374 lines
10 KiB
Groff
374 lines
10 KiB
Groff
.\" Copyright (c) 1989, 1990, 1993
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.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
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.\"
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.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
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.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
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.\"
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.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
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.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
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.\" are met:
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.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
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.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
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.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
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.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
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.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
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.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
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.\" must display the following acknowledgement:
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.\" This product includes software developed by the University of
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.\" California, Berkeley and its contributors.
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.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
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.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
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.\" without specific prior written permission.
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.\"
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.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
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.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
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.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
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.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
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.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
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.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
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.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
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.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
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.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
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.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
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.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
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.\"
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.\" @(#)printf.1 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
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.\" $FreeBSD$
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.\"
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.Dd November 19, 2010
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.Dt PRINTF 1
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.Os
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.Sh NAME
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.Nm printf
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.Nd formatted output
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.Sh SYNOPSIS
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.Nm
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.Ar format Op Ar arguments ...
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.Sh DESCRIPTION
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The
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.Nm
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utility formats and prints its arguments, after the first, under control
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of the
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.Ar format .
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The
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.Ar format
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is a character string which contains three types of objects: plain characters,
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which are simply copied to standard output, character escape sequences which
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are converted and copied to the standard output, and format specifications,
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each of which causes printing of the next successive
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.Ar argument .
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.Pp
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The
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.Ar arguments
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after the first are treated as strings if the corresponding format is
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either
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.Cm c , b
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or
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.Cm s ;
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otherwise it is evaluated as a C constant, with the following extensions:
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.Pp
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.Bl -bullet -offset indent -compact
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.It
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A leading plus or minus sign is allowed.
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.It
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If the leading character is a single or double quote, the value is the
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.Tn ASCII
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code of the next character.
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.El
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.Pp
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The format string is reused as often as necessary to satisfy the
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.Ar arguments .
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Any extra format specifications are evaluated with zero or the null
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string.
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.Pp
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Character escape sequences are in backslash notation as defined in the
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.St -ansiC ,
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with extensions.
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The characters and their meanings
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are as follows:
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.Pp
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.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
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.It Cm \ea
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Write a <bell> character.
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.It Cm \eb
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Write a <backspace> character.
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.It Cm \ec
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Ignore remaining characters in this string.
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.It Cm \ef
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Write a <form-feed> character.
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.It Cm \en
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Write a <new-line> character.
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.It Cm \er
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Write a <carriage return> character.
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.It Cm \et
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Write a <tab> character.
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.It Cm \ev
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Write a <vertical tab> character.
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.It Cm \e\'
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Write a <single quote> character.
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.It Cm \e\e
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Write a backslash character.
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.It Cm \e Ns Ar num
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Write a byte whose
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value is the 1-, 2-, or 3-digit
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octal number
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.Ar num .
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Multibyte characters can be constructed using multiple
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.Cm \e Ns Ar num
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sequences.
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.El
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.Pp
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Each format specification is introduced by the percent character
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(``%'').
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The remainder of the format specification includes,
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in the following order:
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.Bl -tag -width Ds
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.It "Zero or more of the following flags:"
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.Bl -tag -width Ds
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.It Cm #
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A `#' character
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specifying that the value should be printed in an ``alternate form''.
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For
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.Cm c , d ,
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and
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.Cm s ,
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formats, this option has no effect.
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For the
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.Cm o
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formats the precision of the number is increased to force the first
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character of the output string to a zero.
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For the
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.Cm x
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.Pq Cm X
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format, a non-zero result has the string
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.Li 0x
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.Pq Li 0X
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prepended to it.
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For
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.Cm e , E , f , g ,
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and
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.Cm G ,
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formats, the result will always contain a decimal point, even if no
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digits follow the point (normally, a decimal point only appears in the
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results of those formats if a digit follows the decimal point).
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For
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.Cm g
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and
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.Cm G
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formats, trailing zeros are not removed from the result as they
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would otherwise be;
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.It Cm \&\-
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A minus sign `\-' which specifies
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.Em left adjustment
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of the output in the indicated field;
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.It Cm \&+
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A `+' character specifying that there should always be
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a sign placed before the number when using signed formats.
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.It Sq \&\ \&
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A space specifying that a blank should be left before a positive number
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for a signed format.
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A `+' overrides a space if both are used;
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.It Cm \&0
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A zero `0' character indicating that zero-padding should be used
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rather than blank-padding.
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A `\-' overrides a `0' if both are used;
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.El
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.It "Field Width:"
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An optional digit string specifying a
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.Em field width ;
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if the output string has fewer characters than the field width it will
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be blank-padded on the left (or right, if the left-adjustment indicator
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has been given) to make up the field width (note that a leading zero
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is a flag, but an embedded zero is part of a field width);
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.It Precision:
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An optional period,
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.Sq Cm \&.\& ,
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followed by an optional digit string giving a
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.Em precision
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which specifies the number of digits to appear after the decimal point,
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for
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.Cm e
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and
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.Cm f
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formats, or the maximum number of characters to be printed
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from a string; if the digit string is missing, the precision is treated
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as zero;
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.It Format:
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A character which indicates the type of format to use (one of
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.Cm diouxXfFeEgGaAcsb ) .
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The uppercase formats differ from their lowercase counterparts only in
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that the output of the former is entirely in uppercase.
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The floating-point format specifiers
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.Pq Cm fFeEgGaA
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may be prefixed by an
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.Cm L
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to request that additional precision be used, if available.
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.El
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.Pp
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A field width or precision may be
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.Sq Cm \&*
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instead of a digit string.
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In this case an
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.Ar argument
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supplies the field width or precision.
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.Pp
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The format characters and their meanings are:
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.Bl -tag -width Fl
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.It Cm diouXx
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The
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.Ar argument
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is printed as a signed decimal (d or i), unsigned octal, unsigned decimal,
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or unsigned hexadecimal (X or x), respectively.
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.It Cm fF
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The
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.Ar argument
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is printed in the style `[\-]ddd.ddd' where the number of d's
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after the decimal point is equal to the precision specification for
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the argument.
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If the precision is missing, 6 digits are given; if the precision
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is explicitly 0, no digits and no decimal point are printed.
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The values \*[If] and \*[Na] are printed as
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.Ql inf
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and
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.Ql nan ,
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respectively.
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.It Cm eE
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The
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.Ar argument
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is printed in the style
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.Cm e
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.Sm off
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.Sq Op - Ar d.ddd No \(+- Ar dd
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.Sm on
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where there
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is one digit before the decimal point and the number after is equal to
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the precision specification for the argument; when the precision is
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missing, 6 digits are produced.
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The values \*[If] and \*[Na] are printed as
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.Ql inf
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and
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.Ql nan ,
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respectively.
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.It Cm gG
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The
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.Ar argument
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is printed in style
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.Cm f
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.Pq Cm F
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or in style
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.Cm e
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.Pq Cm E
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whichever gives full precision in minimum space.
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.It Cm aA
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The
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.Ar argument
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is printed in style
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.Sm off
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.Sq Op - Ar h.hhh No \(+- Li p Ar d
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.Sm on
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where there is one digit before the hexadecimal point and the number
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after is equal to the precision specification for the argument;
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when the precision is missing, enough digits are produced to convey
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the argument's exact double-precision floating-point representation.
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The values \*[If] and \*[Na] are printed as
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.Ql inf
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and
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.Ql nan ,
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respectively.
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.It Cm c
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The first character of
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.Ar argument
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is printed.
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.It Cm s
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Characters from the string
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.Ar argument
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are printed until the end is reached or until the number of characters
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indicated by the precision specification is reached; however if the
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precision is 0 or missing, all characters in the string are printed.
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.It Cm b
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As for
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.Cm s ,
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but interpret character escapes in backslash notation in the string
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.Ar argument .
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The permitted escape sequences are slightly different in that
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octal escapes are
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.Cm \e0 Ns Ar num
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instead of
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.Cm \e Ns Ar num .
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.It Cm \&%
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Print a `%'; no argument is used.
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.El
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.Pp
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The decimal point
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character is defined in the program's locale (category
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.Dv LC_NUMERIC ) .
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.Pp
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In no case does a non-existent or small field width cause truncation of
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a field; padding takes place only if the specified field width exceeds
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the actual width.
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.Pp
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Some shells may provide a builtin
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.Nm
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command which is similar or identical to this utility.
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Consult the
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.Xr builtin 1
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manual page.
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.Sh EXIT STATUS
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.Ex -std
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.Sh COMPATIBILITY
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The traditional
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.Bx
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behavior of converting arguments of numeric formats not beginning
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with a digit to the
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.Tn ASCII
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code of the first character is not supported.
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.Sh SEE ALSO
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.Xr builtin 1 ,
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.Xr echo 1 ,
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.Xr sh 1 ,
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.Xr printf 3
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.Sh STANDARDS
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The
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.Nm
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command is expected to be compatible with the
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.St -p1003.2
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specification.
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.Sh HISTORY
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The
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.Nm
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command appeared in
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.Bx 4.3 Reno .
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It is modeled
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after the standard library function,
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.Xr printf 3 .
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.Sh BUGS
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Since the floating point numbers are translated from
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.Tn ASCII
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to floating-point and
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then back again, floating-point precision may be lost.
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(By default, the number is translated to an IEEE-754 double-precision
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value before being printed.
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The
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.Cm L
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modifier may produce additional precision, depending on the hardware platform.)
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.Pp
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.Tn ANSI
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hexadecimal character constants were deliberately not provided.
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.Pp
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The escape sequence \e000 is the string terminator.
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When present in the argument for the
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.Cm b
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format, the argument will be truncated at the \e000 character.
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.Pp
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Multibyte characters are not recognized in format strings (this is only
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a problem if
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.Ql %
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can appear inside a multibyte character).
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.Pp
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Trying to print a dash ("-") as the first character causes
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.Nm
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to interpet the dash as a program argument.
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.Nm --
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must be used before
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.Ar format .
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