xfree86 man page for printf

PRINTF(1)                                                          User Commands                                                         PRINTF(1)

NAME
       printf - format and print data

SYNOPSIS
       printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT]...
       printf OPTION

DESCRIPTION
       Print ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT, or execute according to OPTION:

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
              output version information and exit

       FORMAT controls the output as in C printf.  Interpreted sequences are:

       "     double quote

       \     backslash

       a     alert (BEL)

            backspace

       c     produce no further output

       e     escape

       f     form feed

       
     new line

       
     carriage return

       	     horizontal tab

       v     vertical tab

       NNN   byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits)

       xHH   byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits)

       uHHHH Unicode (ISO/IEC 10646) character with hex value HHHH (4 digits)

       UHHHHHHHH
              Unicode character with hex value HHHHHHHH (8 digits)

       %%     a single %

       %b     ARGUMENT as a string with '' escapes interpreted, except that octal escapes are of the form  or NNN

       %q     ARGUMENT  is  printed  in  a format that can be reused as shell input, escaping non-printable characters with the proposed POSIX $''
              syntax.

       and all C format specifications ending with one of diouxXfeEgGcs, with ARGUMENTs converted to proper type first.  Variable widths are  han-
       dled.

       NOTE:  your  shell  may  have its own version of printf, which usually supersedes the version described here.  Please refer to your shell's
       documentation for details about the options it supports.

AUTHOR
       Written by David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS
       GNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       Report printf translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
       printf(3)

       Full documentation at: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/printf>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) printf invocation'

GNU coreutils 8.28                                                 January 2018                                                          PRINTF(1)