BSD 4_4 development

[unix-history] / usr / share / man / cat3 / snprintf.0

PRINTF(3)                   BSD Programmer's Manual                  PRINTF(3)

N\bNA\bAM\bME\bE
     p\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf, f\bfp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf, s\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf, s\bsn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf, v\bvp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf, v\bvf\bfp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf,\b, v\bvs\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf,
     v\bvs\bsn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf - formatted output conversion

S\bSY\bYN\bNO\bOP\bPS\bSI\bIS\bS
     #\b#i\bin\bnc\bcl\blu\bud\bde\be <\b<s\bst\btd\bdi\bio\bo.\b.h\bh>\b>

     _\bi_\bn_\bt
     p\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(_\bc_\bo_\bn_\bs_\bt _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt, _\b._\b._\b.);

     _\bi_\bn_\bt
     f\bfp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(_\bF_\bI_\bL_\bE _\b*_\bs_\bt_\br_\be_\ba_\bm, _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bs_\bt _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt, _\b._\b._\b.);

     _\bi_\bn_\bt
     s\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(_\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bs_\bt_\br, _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bs_\bt _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt, _\b._\b._\b.);

     _\bi_\bn_\bt
     s\bsn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(_\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bs_\bt_\br, _\bs_\bi_\bz_\be_\b__\bt _\bs_\bi_\bz_\be, _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bs_\bt _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt, _\b._\b._\b.);

     #\b#i\bin\bnc\bcl\blu\bud\bde\be <\b<s\bst\btd\bda\bar\brg\bg.\b.h\bh>\b>

     _\bi_\bn_\bt
     v\bvp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(_\bc_\bo_\bn_\bs_\bt _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt, _\bv_\ba_\b__\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt _\ba_\bp);

     _\bi_\bn_\bt
     v\bvf\bfp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(_\bF_\bI_\bL_\bE _\b*_\bs_\bt_\br_\be_\ba_\bm, _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bs_\bt _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt, _\bv_\ba_\b__\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt _\ba_\bp);

     _\bi_\bn_\bt
     v\bvs\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(_\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bs_\bt_\br, _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt, _\bv_\ba_\b__\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt _\ba_\bp);

     _\bi_\bn_\bt
     v\bvs\bsn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(_\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bs_\bt_\br, _\bs_\bi_\bz_\be_\b__\bt _\bs_\bi_\bz_\be, _\bc_\bo_\bn_\bs_\bt _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*_\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt, _\bv_\ba_\b__\bl_\bi_\bs_\bt _\ba_\bp);

D\bDE\bES\bSC\bCR\bRI\bIP\bPT\bTI\bIO\bON\bN
     The p\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() family of functions produces output according to a _\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt as
     described below.  P\bPr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() and v\bvp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() write output to _\bs_\bt_\bd_\bo_\bu_\bt_\b, the
     standard output stream; f\bfp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() and v\bvf\bfp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() write output to the giv-
     en output _\bs_\bt_\br_\be_\ba_\bm; s\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(), s\bsn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(), v\bvs\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(), and v\bvs\bsn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf()
     write to the character string _\bs_\bt_\br. These functions write the output under
     the control of a _\bf_\bo_\br_\bm_\ba_\bt string that specifies how subsequent arguments
     (or arguments accessed via the variable-length argument facilities of
     stdarg(3))  are converted for output.  These functions return the number
     of characters printed (not including the trailing `\0' used to end output
     to strings).  S\bSn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() and v\bvs\bsn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() will write at most _\bs_\bi_\bz_\be-1 of the
     characters printed into the output string (the _\bs_\bi_\bz_\be'th character then
     gets the terminating `\0'); if the return value is greater than or equal
     to the _\bs_\bi_\bz_\be argument, the string was too short and some of the printed
     characters were discarded.  S\bSp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() and v\bvs\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() effectively assume
     an infinite _\bs_\bi_\bz_\be.

     The format string is composed of zero or more directives: ordinary char-
     acters (not %\b%), which are copied unchanged to the output stream; and con-
     version specifications, each of which results in fetching zero or more
     subsequent arguments.  Each conversion specification is introduced by the
     character %\b%. The arguments must correspond properly (after type promo-
     tion) with the conversion specifier.  After the %\b%, the following appear
     in sequence:

     +\b+\bo\bo   Zero or more of the following flags:

         -\b-   A #\b# character specifying that the value should be converted to an
             ``alternate form''.  For c\bc, d\bd, i\bi, n\bn, p\bp, s\bs, and u\bu, conversions,
             this option has no effect.  For o\bo conversions, the precision of
             the number is increased to force the first character of the out-
             put string to a zero (except if a zero value is printed with an
             explicit precision of zero).  For x\bx and X\bX conversions, a non-zero
             result has the string `0x' (or `0X' for X\bX conversions) prepended
             to it.  For e\be, E\bE, f\bf, g\bg, and G\bG, conversions, the result will al-
             ways contain a decimal point, even if no digits follow it (nor-
             mally, a decimal point appears in the results of those conver-
             sions only if a digit follows).  For g\bg and G\bG conversions, trail-
             ing zeros are not removed from the result as they would otherwise
             be.

         -\b-   A zero `0\b0' character specifying zero padding.  For all conver-
             sions except n\bn, the converted value is padded on the left with
             zeros rather than blanks.  If a precision is given with a numeric
             conversion (Mc d, i\bi, o\bo, u\bu, i\bi, x\bx, and X\bX), the `0\b0' flag is ignored.

         -\b-   A negative field width flag `-\b-' indicates the converted value is
             to be left adjusted on the field boundary.  Except for n\bn conver-
             sions, the converted value is padded on the right with blanks,
             rather than on the left with blanks or zeros.  A `-\b-' overrides a
             `0\b0' if both are given.

         -\b-   A space, specifying that a blank should be left before a positive
             number produced by a signed conversion (d\bd, e\be, E\bE, f\bf, g\bg, G\bG, or i\bi).

         -\b-   A `+\b+' character specifying that a sign always be placed before a
             number produced by a signed conversion.  A `+\b+' overrides a space
             if both are used.

     +\b+\bo\bo   An optional decimal digit string specifying a minimum field width.
         If the converted value has fewer characters than the field width, it
         will be padded with spaces on the left (or right, if the left-
         adjustment flag has been given) to fill out the field width.

     +\b+\bo\bo   An optional precision, in the form of a period `.\b.' followed by an op-
         tional digit string.  If the digit string is omitted, the precision
         is taken as zero.  This gives the minimum number of digits to appear
         for d\bd, i\bi, o\bo, u\bu, x\bx, and X\bX conversions, the number of digits to appear
         after the decimal-point for e\be, E\bE, and f\bf conversions, the maximum num-
         ber of significant digits for g\bg and G\bG conversions, or the maximum
         number of characters to be printed from a string for s\bs conversions.

     +\b+\bo\bo   The optional character h\bh, specifying that a following d\bd, i\bi, o\bo, u\bu, x\bx,
         or X\bX conversion corresponds to a _\bs_\bh_\bo_\br_\bt _\bi_\bn_\bt or _\bu_\bn_\bs_\bi_\bg_\bn_\be_\bd _\bs_\bh_\bo_\br_\bt _\bi_\bn_\bt ar-
         gument, or that a following n\bn conversion corresponds to a pointer to
         a _\bs_\bh_\bo_\br_\bt _\bi_\bn_\bt argument.

     +\b+\bo\bo   The optional character l\bl (ell) specifying that a following d\bd, i\bi, o\bo,
         u\bu, x\bx, or X\bX conversion applies to a pointer to a _\bl_\bo_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn_\bt or _\bu_\bn_\bs_\bi_\bg_\bn_\be_\bd
         _\bl_\bo_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn_\bt argument, or that a following n\bn conversion corresponds to a
         pointer to a _\bl_\bo_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn_\bt argument.

     +\b+\bo\bo   The optional character q\bq, specifying that a following d\bd, i\bi, o\bo, u\bu, x\bx,
         or X\bX conversion corresponds to a _\bq_\bu_\ba_\bd _\bi_\bn_\bt or _\bu_\bn_\bs_\bi_\bg_\bn_\be_\bd _\bq_\bu_\ba_\bd _\bi_\bn_\bt argu-
         ment, or that a following n\bn conversion corresponds to a pointer to a
         _\bq_\bu_\ba_\bd _\bi_\bn_\bt argument.

     +\b+\bo\bo   The character L\bL specifying that a following e\be, E\bE, f\bf, g\bg, or G\bG conver-
         sion corresponds to a _\bl_\bo_\bn_\bg _\bd_\bo_\bu_\bb_\bl_\be argument (but note that long double
         values are not currently supported by the VAX and Tahoe compilers).

     +\b+\bo\bo   A character that specifies the type of conversion to be applied.

     A field width or precision, or both, may be indicated by an asterisk `*'
     instead of a digit string.  In this case, an _\bi_\bn_\bt argument supplies the
     field width or precision.  A negative field width is treated as a left
     adjustment flag followed by a positive field width; a negative precision
     is treated as though it were missing.

     The conversion specifiers and their meanings are:

     d\bdi\bio\bou\bux\bxX\bX  The _\bi_\bn_\bt (or appropriate variant) argument is converted to signed
             decimal (d\bd and i\bi), unsigned octal (o\bo), unsigned decimal (u\bu), or
             unsigned hexadecimal (x\bx and X\bX) notation.  The letters a\bab\bbc\bcd\bde\bef\bf are
             used for x\bx conversions; the letters A\bAB\bBC\bCD\bDE\bEF\bF are used for conver-
             sions.  The precision, if any, gives the minimum number of digits
             that must appear; if the converted value requires fewer digits,
             it is padded on the left with zeros.

     D\bDO\bOU\bU     The _\bl_\bo_\bn_\bg _\bi_\bn_\bt argument is converted to signed decimal, unsigned
             octal, or unsigned decimal, as if the format had been l\bld\bd, l\blo\bo, or
             l\blu\bu respectively.  These conversion characters are deprecated, and
             will eventually disappear.

     e\beE\bE      The _\bd_\bo_\bu_\bb_\bl_\be argument is rounded and converted in the style
             [-]d.\b.ddde\be+-dd where there is one digit before the decimal-point
             character and the number of digits after it is equal to the pre-
             cision; if the precision is missing, it is taken as 6; if the
             precision is zero, no decimal-point character appears.  An E\bE con-
             version uses the letter E\bE (rather than e\be) to introduce the expo-
             nent.  The exponent always contains at least two digits; if the
             value is zero, the exponent is 00.

     f\bf       The _\bd_\bo_\bu_\bb_\bl_\be argument is rounded and converted to decimal notation
             in the style [-]ddd.\b.ddd, where the number of digits after the
             decimal-point character is equal to the precision specification.
             If the precision is missing, it is taken as 6; if the precision
             is explicitly zero, no decimal-point character appears.  If a
             decimal point appears, at least one digit appears before it.

     g\bg       The _\bd_\bo_\bu_\bb_\bl_\be argument is converted in style f\bf or e\be (or E\bE for G\bG con-
             versions).  The precision specifies the number of significant
             digits.  If the precision is missing, 6 digits are given; if the
             precision is zero, it is treated as 1.  Style e\be is used if the
             exponent from its conversion is less than -4 or greater than or
             equal to the precision.  Trailing zeros are removed from the
             fractional part of the result; a decimal point appears only if it
             is followed by at least one digit.

     c\bc       The _\bi_\bn_\bt argument is converted to an _\bu_\bn_\bs_\bi_\bg_\bn_\be_\bd _\bc_\bh_\ba_\br, and the re-
             sulting character is written.

     s\bs       The ``_\bc_\bh_\ba_\br _\b*'' argument is expected to be a pointer to an array
             of character type (pointer to a string).  Characters from the ar-
             ray are written up to (but not including) a terminating NUL char-
             acter; if a precision is specified, no more than the number spec-
             ified are written.  If a precision is given, no null character
             need be present; if the precision is not specified, or is greater
             than the size of the array, the array must contain a terminating
             NUL character.

     p\bp       The ``_\bv_\bo_\bi_\bd _\b*'' pointer argument is printed in hexadecimal (as if
             by `%#x' or `%#lx').

     n\bn       The number of characters written so far is stored into the inte-
             ger indicated by the ``_\bi_\bn_\bt _\b*'' (or variant) pointer argument.  No
             argument is converted.

     %\b%       A `%' is written. No argument is converted. The complete conver-
             sion specification is `%%'.


     In no case does a non-existent or small field width cause truncation of a
     field; if the result of a conversion is wider than the field width, the
     field is expanded to contain the conversion result.

E\bEX\bXA\bAM\bMP\bPL\bLE\bES\bS
     To print a date and time in the form `Sunday, July 3, 10:02', where
     _\bw_\be_\be_\bk_\bd_\ba_\by and _\bm_\bo_\bn_\bt_\bh are pointers to strings:

           #include <stdio.h>
           fprintf(stdout, "%s, %s %d, %.2d:%.2d\n",
                   weekday, month, day, hour, min);

     To print pi to five decimal places:

           #include <math.h>
           #include <stdio.h>
           fprintf(stdout, "pi = %.5f\n", 4 * atan(1.0));

     To allocate a 128 byte string and print into it:

           #include <stdio.h>
           #include <stdlib.h>
           #include <stdarg.h>
           char *newfmt(const char *fmt, ...)
           {
                           char *p;
                           va_list ap;
                           if ((p = malloc(128)) == NULL)
                                   return (NULL);
                           va_start(ap, fmt);
                           (void) vsnprintf(p, 128, fmt, ap);
                           va_end(ap);
                           return (p);
           }

S\bSE\bEE\bE A\bAL\bLS\bSO\bO
     printf(1),  scanf(3)

S\bST\bTA\bAN\bND\bDA\bAR\bRD\bDS\bS
     The f\bfp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(), p\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(), s\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(), v\bvp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(), v\bvf\bfp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf(), and v\bvs\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf()
     functions conform to ANSI C X3.159-1989 (``ANSI C '').

H\bHI\bIS\bST\bTO\bOR\bRY\bY
     The functions s\bsn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() and v\bvs\bsn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() are new to this release.

B\bBU\bUG\bGS\bS
     The conversion formats %\b%D\bD, %\b%O\bO, and %\b%U\bU are not standard and are provided
     only for backward compatibility.  The effect of padding the %\b%p\bp format
     with zeros (either by the `0\b0' flag or by specifying a precision), and the
     benign effect (i.e., none) of the `#\b#' flag on %\b%n\bn and %\b%p\bp conversions, as
     well as other nonsensical combinations such as %\b%L\bLd\bd, are not standard;
     such combinations should be avoided.

     Because s\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() and v\bvs\bsp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf() assume an infinitely long string,
     callers must be careful not to overflow the actual space; this is often
     impossible to assure.  For safety, programmers should use the s\bsn\bnp\bpr\bri\bin\bnt\btf\bf()
     interface instead.  Unfortunately, this interface is not portable.

4.4BSD                           June 4, 1993                                4