printf(1)						      General Commands Manual							 printf(1)

NAME

       printf - Writes formatted output

SYNOPSIS

       printf format [argument...]

STANDARDS

       Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:

       printf:	XCU5.0

       Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.

OPTIONS

       None

OPERANDS

       A string describing the manner of writing the output. This string is explained in the DESCRIPTION section.  The strings to be written under
       the control of the format.  These strings are explained in the DESCRIPTION section.

DESCRIPTION

       The printf command converts, formats, and writes its arguments to the standard output. The values specified by the  argument  variable  are
       formatted under control of the format variable.

   Syntax of the argument Variable
       The  argument  variable	is  a  list  of one or more strings to be written to the standard output under the control of the format variable.
       These are treated as strings if the corresponding conversion character is b, c, or s; otherwise, it is evaluated as a C constant, with  the
       following extensions:

       A leading + (plus sign) or - (minus sign) is allowed.

       If  the leading character is a ' (single quote) or " (double quote), the value is the numeric value in the underlying code set of the char-
       acter following the single quote or double quote.

   Syntax of the format Variable
       The format variable is a character string that contains three types of objects: Plain characters that are copied to the output stream.  The
       following  escape sequences are both copied to the output stream and cause the associated action to occur on display devices that are capa-
       ble of the action.  Backslash Alert Backspace Formfeed Newline Carriage Return Tab Vertical Tab Where ddd is a one-, two-,  or  three-digit
       octal  number.	These escape sequences are displayed as a byte with the numeric value specified by the octal number.  A delta character in
       the format string is treated as a delta character, rather than as a space character.

       The format variable is reused as often as necessary to satisfy the arguments. Any extra c or s conversion specifications are  evaluated	as
       if a null string argument were supplied; other extra conversion specifications are evaluated as if a zero argument were supplied.

       Each  conversion specification in the format variable has the following syntax: A % (percent sign).  Zero or more options, which modify the
       meaning of the conversion specification.  The option characters and their meanings are as follows: The result of  the  conversion  is  left
       aligned	within	the  field.   The  result  of a signed conversion always begins with a + (plus) or - (minus).  If the first character of a
       signed conversion is not a sign, a blank is prefixed to the result. If both the blank and +  options  appear,  then  the  blank	option	is
       ignored.  The value is converted to an alternative form.  For c, d, i, u, and s conversions, the option has no effect. For o conversion, it
       increases the precision to force the first digit of the result to be a 0 (zero). For x and X conversions, a nonzero result has  0x,  or	0X
       prefixed  to  it,  respectively.  For e, E, f, g, and G conversions, the result always contains a radix character, even if no digits follow
       the radix character. For g and G conversions, trailing zeros are not removed from the result as they usually are.  For d, i, o, u, x, X, e,
       E,  f,  g, and G conversions, leading zeros (following any indication of sign or base) are used to pad to the field width, no space padding
       is performed.  If the 0 (zero) and - options appear, the 0 (zero) option is ignored. For d, i, o, u, x, and X conversions, if  a  precision
       is  specified,  the  0 (zero) option is ignored.  An optional decimal digit string that specifies the minimum field width. If the converted
       value has fewer characters than the field width, the field is padded on the left to the length specified by the field width.  If the  left-
       adjustment  option flag (-) is specified, the field is padded on the right.  An optional precision. The precision is a (dot) followed by an
       asterisk (*), or a decimal digit string. If no precision is given, it is treated as 0 (zero).  The precision specifies: The minimum  number
       of digits to appear for the d, o, i, u, x, or X conversions.  The number of digits to appear after the radix character for the e and f con-
       versions.  The maximum number of significant digits for the g conversion.  The maximum number of bytes to be printed from a string in the s
       conversion.   A	character  that  indicates  the  type of conversion to be applied, as follows: Performs no conversion. Prints a % (percent
       sign).  Accepts a value as a string that may contain backslash-escape sequences. Bytes from the converted string are printed until the  end
       of  the	string	or  number of bytes indicated by the precision specification is reached.  If the precision is omitted, all bytes until the
       first null character are printed.

	      The following backslash-escape sequences are supported: The Oddd sequence, where ddd is a one-, two-, or three-digit  octal  number
	      that  is converted to a byte with the numeric value specified by the octal number.  The escape sequences previously listed under the
	      description of the format variable. These are converted to the individual characters they represented.  The c  sequence,  which	is
	      not  displayed and causes the printf command to ignore any remaining characters in the string parameter containing it, any remaining
	      string parameters, and any additional characters in the format variable.	Prints the first character of the  argument.   Accepts	an
	      integer value and converts it to a signed decimal notation in the style [-]dddd.	The precision specifies the minimum number of dig-
	      its to appear. If the value being converted can be represented in fewer digits, it is expanded with leading zeros. The default  pre-
	      cision  is 1. The result of converting a 0 (zero) value with a precision of 0 (zero) is a null string. Specifying a field width with
	      a 0 (zero) as a leading character causes the field to be padded with leading zeros.  Accepts a float or double value and converts it
	      to  the  exponential form [-] d.dde +|- dd. There is one digit before the radix character (shown here as the decimal point), and the
	      number of digits after the radix character is equal to the precision specification. The LC_NUMERIC locale  category  determines  the
	      radix  character to use in this format. If no precision is specified, then six digits are output. If the precision is 0 (zero), then
	      no radix character appears.  The E conversion character produces a number with E instead of e  before  the  exponent.  The  exponent
	      always  contains	at  least two digits. However, if the value to be printed requires an exponent greater than two digits, additional
	      exponent digits are printed as necessary.  Accepts a float or double value and converts it to decimal notation  in  the  format  [-]
	      ddd.ddd.	 The number of digits after the radix character (shown here as the decimal point) is equal to the precision specification.
	      The LC_NUMERIC locale category determines the radix character to use in this format. If no precision is specified, then  six  digits
	      are  output.  If the precision is 0 (zero), then no radix character appears.  Accepts a float or double value and converts it in the
	      style of the f or e conversion characters (or E in the case of the G conversion), with the precision specifying the number  of  sig-
	      nificant digits.	Trailing zeros are removed from the result. A radix character appears only if it is followed by a digit. The style
	      used depends on the value converted. Style g results only if the exponent resulting from the conversion is less than -4, or if it is
	      greater  than or equal to the precision.	Accepts an integer value and converts it to unsigned octal notation.  The precision speci-
	      fies the minimum number of digits to appear.  If the value being converted can be represented in fewer digits, it is  expanded  with
	      leading  zeros. The default precision is 1. The result of converting a 0 (zero) value with a precision of 0 (zero) is a null string.
	      Specifying a field width with a 0 (zero) as a leading character causes the field width value to be padded with  leading  zeros.	An
	      octal value for field width is not implied.  Accepts a value as a string, and bytes from the string are printed until the end of the
	      string is encountered or the number of bytes indicated by the precision is reached. If no precision is specified, all characters	up
	      to the first null character are printed.	Accepts an integer value and converts it to unsigned decimal notation. The precision spec-
	      ifies the minimum number of digits to appear.  If the value being converted can be represented in fewer digits, it is expanded  with
	      leading  zeros. The default precision is 1. The result of converting a 0 (zero) value with a precision of 0 (zero) is a null string.
	      Specifying a field width with a 0 (zero) as a leading character causes the field width  value  to  be  padded  with  leading  zeros.
	      Accepts  an integer value and converts it to unsigned hexadecimal notation. The letters abcdef are used for the x conversion and the
	      letters ABCDEF are used for the X conversion. The precision specifies the minimum number of digits to appear.  If  the  value  being
	      converted  can be represented in fewer digits, it is expanded with leading zeros. The default precision is 1. The result of convert-
	      ing a 0 (zero) value with a precision of 0 (zero) is a null string. Specifying a field width with a 0 (zero) as a leading  character
	      causes the field width value to be padded with leading zeros.

       If  the	result of a conversion is wider than the field width, the field is expanded to contain the converted result. No truncation occurs.
       However, a small precision may cause truncation on the right.

EXAMPLES

       The following printf command formats a series of numbers: printf "%5d%4d
" 1 21 321 4321 54321

	      This command produces the following output:
		  1  21
		3214321 54321	0

	      The format variable is used three times to print all of the given strings. The 0 (zero) is supplied by the printf command to satisfy
	      the  last  %4d conversion specification.	The following script includes printf commands to alert the user (sound a beep) and to dis-
	      play prompts for entering a name and phone number.  The script then appends the user entries to a file.

	      printf "aPlease fill in the following: 
Name: " read name printf "Phone number: " read phone echo $name "  " $phone >>	phone_list
	      echo  >> phone_list

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       The  following  environment  variables affect the execution of printf: Provides a default value for the internationalization variables that
       are unset or null. If LANG is unset or null, the corresponding value from the default locale is used.  If any of  the  internationalization
       variables  contain  an  invalid	setting,  the  utility behaves as if none of the variables had been defined.  If set to a non-empty string
       value, overrides the values of all the other internationalization variables.  Determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences	of
       bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte characters in arguments).  Determines the locale for the
       format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.  Determines the location of message catalogues for the processing	of
       LC_MESSAGES.  Determines the locale for numbers written using the e, E, f, g, or G conversion characters.

SEE ALSO

       Commands:  awk(1), bc(1), echo(1), read(1)

       Functions:  printf(3)

       Standards:  standards(5)

																	 printf(1)