PMNUMBERSTR(3)						     Library Functions Manual						    PMNUMBERSTR(3)

NAME

       pmNumberStr, pmNumberStr_r - fixed width output format for numbers

C SYNOPSIS

       #include <pcp/pmapi.h>

       const char *pmNumberStr(double value);
       char *pmNumberStr_r(double value, char *buf, int buflen);

       cc ... -lpcp

DESCRIPTION

       pmNumberStr returns the address of a 8-byte buffer that holds a null-byte terminated representation of value suitable for output with fixed
       width fields.  The pmNumberStr_r function does the same, but stores the result in a user-supplied buffer buf of length buflen, which should
       have room for at least 8 bytes.

       The  value  is scaled using multipliers in powers of ``one thousand'' (the decimal ``kilo'') and has a bias that provides greater precision
       for positive numbers as opposed to negative numbers.

       The format depends on the sign and magnitude of value as follows (d represents a decimal digit):

						      +----------------------------------+---------+
						      | 	  value range		 | format  |
						      +----------------------------------+---------+
						      |        > 999995000000000	 |  inf?   |
						      |999995000000000 - 999995000000	 | ddd.ddT |
						      |   999995000000 - 999995000	 | ddd.ddG |
						      |      999995000 - 999995 	 | ddd.ddM |
						      | 	999995 - 999.995	 | ddd.ddK |
						      |        999.995 - 0.005		 | ddd.dd  |
						      | 	 0.005 - -0.005 	 |   0.00  |
						      | 	-0.005 - -99.95 	 | -dd.dd  |
						      |        -99.995 - -99995 	 | -dd.ddK |
						      | 	-99995 - -99995000	 | -dd.ddM |
						      |      -99995000 - -99995000000	 | -dd.ddG |
						      |   -99995000000 - -99995000000000 | -dd.ddT |
						      |       < -99995000000000 	 | -inf?   |
						      +----------------------------------+---------+
       At the boundary points of the ranges, the chosen format will retain the maximum number of significant digits.

NOTES

       pmNumberStr returns a pointer to a static buffer and hence is  not  thread-safe.   Multi-threaded  applications	should	use  pmNumberStr_r
       instead.

SEE ALSO

       printf(3)

Performance Co-Pilot							PCP							    PMNUMBERSTR(3)