vprintf 中文man页面

NAME

printf, fprintf, sprintf, snprintf, vprintf, vfprintf, vsprintf, vsnprintf - 输出格式转换  

总览 (SYNOPSIS)

#include <stdio.h>

int printf(const char *format, ...);
int fprintf(FILE *stream, const char *format, ...);
int sprintf(char *str, const char *format, ...);
int snprintf(char *str, size_t size, const char *format, ...);

#include <stdarg.h>

int vprintf(const char *format, va_list ap);
int vfprintf(FILE *stream, const char *format, va_list ap);
int vsprintf(char *str, const char *format, va_list ap);
int vsnprintf(char *str, size_t size, const char *format, va_list ap);  

描述 (DESCRIPTION)

printf 系列 函数 根据 下述的 format 参数 生成 输出内容. printf 和 vprintf 函数 把 输出内容 写到 stdout, 即 标准输出流; fprintf 和 vfprintf 函数 把 输出内容 写到 给定的 stream 流; sprintf, snprintf, vsprintf 和 vsnprintf 函数 把 输出内容 存放到 字符串 str 中.

这些 函数 由 格式字符串 format 参数 控制 输出内容, 它 指出 怎么样 把 后面的 参数 (或 通过 stdarg(3) 的 变长参数机制 访问的 参数) 转换成 输出内容.

这些 函数 返回 打印的 字符 数量 (不包括 字符串 结尾用的 `\0'). snprintf 和 vsnprintf 的 输出 不会 超过 size 字节 (包括了 结尾的 `\0'), 如果 因为 这个 限制 导致 输出内容 被截断, 则 函数 返回 -1.

格式字符串 (format 参数) 由 零到多个 指令 组成: 普通字符 (除 % 外), 它们 被 原封不动的 送到 输出流; 以及 格式转换说明 (conversion specification), 每个 格式转换说明 都会 从后面 提取 零到多个 参数. 格式转换说明 由 % 字符 引导开始. 参数 必须 正确的 对应到 格式转换符 (conversion specifier) 上. 下述 字符 按顺序 列在 % 后面:

*

零个 或 多个 下列 标志:

#

指出 数值 应该 转换成 "其他形式". 对于 c, d, i, n, p, s, 和 u 格式转换, 这个选项 没有 影响. 对于 o 格式转换, 数值的 精度 被提高, 使 输出字符串的 ***个 字符 为零 (除非 打印 一个零值 时, 明确 定义 精度 为零). 对于 x 和 X 格式转换, 非零数值 前面 会添加 `0x' 字符串 (或 X 格式转换 的 `0X' 字符串). 对于 e, E, f, g, 和 G 格式转换, 其结果 始终 含有一个 十进制小数点, 即使 后面 没有 数字 (一般说来, 只有当 格式转换 后, 小数点 后面 有数字时 才显示 小数点). 对于 g 和 G 格式转换, 将不删去 结果末尾的 零, 其他情况下 这些 零 应该 删掉.

0

指出 用零 填充 结果. 所有的 格式转换, 除了 n, 转换结果 的 左边 用零 填充, 而不是 空格. 如果 数值转换 时 给定了 精度, (d, i, o, u, i, x, 和 X), 则 忽略 0 标志.

-

(负位宽标志) 指出 转换结果 必须 在 位边界 上 向左边 对齐. 除了 n 格式转换, 转换结果 的 右边 用空格 填充, 而不是 在左边 填充 空格或零. 如果 同时 给出了 - 和 0 , 则 - 覆盖 0 .

' '

(空格) 指出 在 通过 有符号数(signed) 格式转换 ( d, e, E, f, g, G, 或 i ) 产生的 正数 前面 留一个 空格.

+

指出 有符号数 格式转换 产生的 结果 前面 始终 有一个 正负符号. 如果 同时 给出了 + 和 空格, 则 + 覆盖 空格.

'

指出 在 数字 参数 中, 如果 locale 给出 相关信息, 输出结果 将被 分组. 注意, 许多 版本 的 gcc 不能 理解 这个选项, 因而会 产生 一个警告.

*

一个 可选的 十进制数, 指出 最小的 位宽. 如果 格式转换后 产生的 字符数少于 位宽, 则 左边 用 空格 填充 (或者 填充 右边, 如果 给出了 向左对齐标志), 直到 填满 指定的 位宽.

*

一个 可选的 精度, 格式是 一个 句号(`.') 后面 跟着 一个 可选的 数字. 如果 没有 给出 这个 数字, 则 精度 取为 零. 这样就 指定了 d, i, o, u, x, 和 X 格式转换 显示的 最小位数, e, E, 和 f 格式转换 小数点 后面 显示的 位数, g 和 G 格式转换 显示的 ***有效位数(significant digits), 或 s 格式转换 打印 某个 字符串的 最多 字符数目.

*

可选的 字符 h, 指出 后面的 d, i, o, u, x, 或 X 格式转换 对应为 short int 或 unsigned short int 的 参数, 或者是 后面的 n 格式转换 对应为 指向 short int 参数 的 指针.

*

可选的 字符 l (ell) 指出 后面的 d, i, o, u, x, 或 X 格式转换 应用到 指向 long int 或 unsigned long int 参数 的 指针, 或者 后面的 n 格式转换 对应为 指向 long int 参数 的 指针. Linux 提供 和 ANSI 不兼容 的 双 l 标志, 作为 q 或 L 的 同义词. 因此 ll 可以 结合 浮点格式转换 使用. 但是 强烈 反对 这个 用法.

*

字符 L 指出 后面的 e, E, f, g, 或 G 格式转换 对应 long double 参数, 或者 让 后面的 d, i, o, u, x, 或 X 格式转换 对应 long long 参数. 注意 long long 没有在 ANSI C 中 声明, 因此 不能够 移植到 所有的 体系平台 上.

*

可选的 字符 q 等于 L. 参考 STANDARDS 和 BUGS 节 关于 ll, L, 和 q 的 叙述.

*

字符 Z 指出 后面的 整数 (d, i, o, u, x, 或 X) 格式转换 对应 size_t 参数.

*

指出 采用 格式转换类型 的 字符.

可以 用 星号 `*' 代替 数字 指定 域宽 或 精度, 也可以 两者 同时 指定. 这种情况下 要求 用一个 int 参数 指出 域宽 或 精度. 负域宽 被认为是 正域宽 跟在 向左对齐标志 后面; 负精度 被认为是 精度 丢失.

格式转换符(specifier) 及其 含义 如下:

diouxX

将 int 形 (或 合适的 变量) 参数 转换输出为 有符号十进制数 (d 和 i), 无符号八进制数 (o), 无符号十进制数 (u), 或者 无符号十六进制数 (x 和 X). x 格式转换 用 小写字母 abcdef ; X 格式转换 用 大写字母 ABCDEF . 精度值 (如果给出) 指出 必须显示的 最少 数字; 如果 转换结果 少于 这个 要求, 则用 零 填补 转换结果 的 左边.

eE

将 double 参数 舍入后 转换为 [-]d.ddde\*(Pmdd 的 格式, 这个格式 的 小数点 前面 有 一位 数字, 后面 表示 精度; 如果没有 指出 精度, 则意味着 精度是 6; 如果 精度 是 0, 则不显示 小数点. E 格式转换 使用 字母 E (而不是 e) 要求 引入 指数. 指数 至少 包含 两个 数字; 如果 值 是 零, 则 指数 是 00.

f

将 double 参数 舍入后 转换为 [-]ddd.ddd 的 十进制 表达式, 这个格式 小数点 后面 的 数字 表示 精度. 如果 没有 指出 精度, 则意味着 精度是 6; 如果 显式 给出 精度 是 0, 则不显示 小数点. 如果 显示了 小数点, 则 小数点 前面 至少有 一位 数字.

g

将 double 参数 以 f 或 e (或者 G 格式转换的 E 标志) 的 形式 转换. 其精度 指出 有符号数字 的 数目. 如果 没有 指出精度, 则默认为 6; 如果 精度 是 零, 则按 1 处理. 如果 格式转换后 其 指数 小于 -4 或者 大于等于 其精度, 则 使用 e 形式. 转换结果 消除了 分数部分 末尾的 零; 小数点 前面 至少有 一位 十进制数字.

c

将 int 参数 转换为 unsigned char, 然后 输出 对应的 字符.

s

认为 ``char *'' 参数 是 指向 字符形数组 的 指针 (指向 字符串). Printf 输出 数组内的 字符, 直到 遇上 (但不包括) 结束字符 NUL ; 如果 给出了 精度值, printf 不会 输出 多于 这个值 的 字符, 也不需要 提供 NUL 结束符; 如果 没有 给出 精度值, 或 精度值 大于 数组长度, 则 数组内一定要 包括 一个 NUL 字符.

p

将以 十六进制数 打印 ``void *'' 指针参数 (就象是 %#x 或 %#lx).

n

将 目前 已经 输出的 字符数目 存储在 ``int *'' (或变量) 指针参数 指向的 地址. 不转换 任何参数.

%

输出 一个 '%'. 不转换 任何参数. 完整的 写法 是 `%%'.

不指定 域宽 或 偏小的 域宽 不会 导致 内容 被截断; 如果 转换结果 的 长度超过 其域宽, 则 域宽 会 扩大到 容下 完整的 结果.

示例 (EXAMPLES)

以 `Sunday, July 3, 10:02' 格式 显示 日期, 其中 weekday 和 month 是 字符串指针:

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

显示 五位 十进制数:

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

分配 128 个 字节 的 字符串 空间 保存 打印 结果:

#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);
}

另见 (SEE ALSO)

printf(1), scanf(3)  

#p#

NAME

printf, fprintf, sprintf, snprintf, vprintf, vfprintf, vsprintf, vsnprintf - formatted output conversion  

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdio.h>

int printf(const char *format, ...);
int fprintf(FILE *stream, const char *format, ...);
int sprintf(char *str, const char *format, ...);
int snprintf(char *str, size_t size, const char *format, ...);

#include <stdarg.h>

int vprintf(const char *format, va_list ap);
int vfprintf(FILE *stream, const char *format, va_list ap);
int vsprintf(char *str, const char *format, va_list ap);
int vsnprintf(char *str, size_t size, const char *format, va_list ap);  

DESCRIPTION

The functions in the printf family produce output according to a format as described below. The functions printf and vprintf write output to stdout, the standard output stream; fprintf and vfprintf write output to the given output stream; sprintf, snprintf, vsprintf and vsnprintf write to the character string str.

The functions vprintf, vfprintf, vsprintf, vsnprintf are equivalent to the functions printf, fprintf, sprintf, snprintf, respectively, except that they are called with a va_list instead of a variable number of arguments. These functions do not call the va_end macro. Consequently, the value of ap is undefined after the call. The application should call va_end(ap) itself afterwards.

These eight functions write the output under the control of a format string that specifies how subsequent arguments (or arguments accessed via the variable-length argument facilities of stdarg(3)) are converted for output.  

Return value

Upon successful return, these functions return the number of characters printed (not including the trailing '\0' used to end output to strings). The functions snprintf and vsnprintf do not write more than size bytes (including the trailing '\0'). If the output was truncated due to this limit then the return value is the number of characters (not including the trailing '\0') which would have been written to the final string if enough space had been available. Thus, a return value of size or more means that the output was truncated. (See also below under NOTES.) If an output error is encountered, a negative value is returned.  

Format of the format string

The format string is a character string, beginning and ending in its initial shift state, if any. The format string is composed of zero or more directives: ordinary characters (not %), which are copied unchanged to the output stream; and conversion specifications, each of which results in fetching zero or more subsequent arguments. Each conversion specification is introduced by the character %, and ends with a conversion specifier. In between there may be (in this order) zero or more flags, an optional minimum field width, an optional precision and an optional length modifier.

The arguments must correspond properly (after type promotion) with the conversion specifier. By default, the arguments are used in the order given, where each `*' and each conversion specifier asks for the next argument (and it is an error if insufficiently many arguments are given). One can also specify explicitly which argument is taken, at each place where an argument is required, by writing `%m$' instead of `%' and `*m$' instead of `*', where the decimal integer m denotes the position in the argument list of the desired argument, indexed starting from 1. Thus,

        printf("%*d", width, num);

and

        printf("%2$*1$d", width, num);

are equivalent. The second style allows repeated references to the same argument. The C99 standard does not include the style using `$', which comes from the Single Unix Specification. If the style using `$' is used, it must be used throughout for all conversions taking an argument and all width and precision arguments, but it may be mixed with `%%' formats which do not consume an argument. There may be no gaps in the numbers of arguments specified using `$'; for example, if arguments 1 and 3 are specified, argument 2 must also be specified somewhere in the format string.

For some numeric conversions a radix character (`decimal point') or thousands' grouping character is used. The actual character used depends on the LC_NUMERIC part of the locale. The POSIX locale uses `.' as radix character, and does not have a grouping character. Thus,

        printf("%'.2f", 1234567.89);

results in `1234567.89' in the POSIX locale, in `1234567,89' in the nl_NL locale, and in `1.234.567,89' in the da_DK locale.  

The flag characters

The character % is followed by zero or more of the following flags:

#

The value should be converted to an ``alternate form''. For o conversions, the first character of the output string is made zero (by prefixing a 0 if it was not zero already). For x and X conversions, a non-zero result has the string `0x' (or `0X' for X conversions) prepended to it. For a, A, e, E, f, F, g, and G conversions, the result will always contain a decimal point, even if no digits follow it (normally, a decimal point appears in the results of those conversions only if a digit follows). For g and G conversions, trailing zeros are not removed from the result as they would otherwise be. For other conversions, the result is undefined.

0

The value should be zero padded. For d, i, o, u, x, X, a, A, e, E, f, F, g, and G conversions, the converted value is padded on the left with zeros rather than blanks. If the 0 and - flags both appear, the 0 flag is ignored. If a precision is given with a numeric conversion (d, i, o, u, x, and X), the 0 flag is ignored. For other conversions, the behavior is undefined.

-

The converted value is to be left adjusted on the field boundary. (The default is right justification.) Except for n conversions, the converted value is padded on the right with blanks, rather than on the left with blanks or zeros. A - overrides a 0 if both are given.

' '

(a space) A blank should be left before a positive number (or empty string) produced by a signed conversion.

+

A sign (+ or -) always be placed before a number produced by a signed conversion. By default a sign is used only for negative numbers. A + overrides a space if both are used.

The five flag characters above are defined in the C standard. The SUSv2 specifies one further flag character.

'

For decimal conversion (i, d, u, f, F, g, G) the output is to be grouped with thousands' grouping characters if the locale information indicates any. Note that many versions of gcc cannot parse this option and will issue a warning. SUSv2 does not include %'F.

glibc 2.2 adds one further flag character.

I

For decimal integer conversion (i, d, u) the output uses the locale's alternative output digits, if any. For example, since glibc 2.2.3 this will give Arabic-Indic digits in the Persian (`fa_IR') locale.

The field width

An optional decimal digit string (with nonzero first digit) 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). Instead of a decimal digit string one may write `*' or `*m$' (for some decimal integer m) to specify that the field width is given in the next argument, or in the m-th argument, respectively, which must be of type int. A negative field width is taken as a `-' flag followed by a positive field width. 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.  

The precision

An optional precision, in the form of a period (`.') followed by an optional decimal digit string. Instead of a decimal digit string one may write `*' or `*m$' (for some decimal integer m) to specify that the precision is given in the next argument, or in the m-th argument, respectively, which must be of type int. If the precision is given as just `.', or the precision is negative, the precision is taken to be zero. This gives the minimum number of digits to appear for d, i, o, u, x, and X conversions, the number of digits to appear after the radix character for a, A, e, E, f, and F conversions, the maximum number of significant digits for g and G conversions, or the maximum number of characters to be printed from a string for s and S conversions.  

The length modifier

Here, `integer conversion' stands for d, i, o, u, x, or X conversion.

hh

A following integer conversion corresponds to a signed char or unsigned char argument, or a following n conversion corresponds to a pointer to a signed char argument.

h

A following integer conversion corresponds to a short int or unsigned short int argument, or a following n conversion corresponds to a pointer to a short int argument.

l

(ell) A following integer conversion corresponds to a long int or unsigned long int argument, or a following n conversion corresponds to a pointer to a long int argument, or a following c conversion corresponds to a wint_t argument, or a following s conversion corresponds to a pointer to wchar_t argument.

ll

(ell-ell). A following integer conversion corresponds to a long long int or unsigned long long int argument, or a following n conversion corresponds to a pointer to a long long int argument.

L

A following a, A, e, E, f, F, g, or G conversion corresponds to a long double argument. (C99 allows %LF, but SUSv2 does not.)

q

(`quad'. BSD 4.4 and Linux libc5 only. Don't use.) This is a synonym for ll.

j

A following integer conversion corresponds to an intmax_t or uintmax_t argument.

z

A following integer conversion corresponds to a size_t or ssize_t argument. (Linux libc5 has Z with this meaning. Don't use it.)

t

A following integer conversion corresponds to a ptrdiff_t argument.

The SUSv2 only knows about the length modifiers h (in hd, hi, ho, hx, hX, hn) and l (in ld, li, lo, lx, lX, ln, lc, ls) and L (in Le, LE, Lf, Lg, LG).

The conversion specifier

A character that specifies the type of conversion to be applied. The conversion specifiers and their meanings are:

d,i

The int argument is converted to signed decimal notation. 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. The default precision is 1. When 0 is printed with an explicit precision 0, the output is empty.

o,u,x,X

The unsigned int argument is converted to unsigned octal (o), unsigned decimal (u), or unsigned hexadecimal (x and X) notation. The letters abcdef are used for x conversions; the letters ABCDEF are used for X conversions. 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. The default precision is 1. When 0 is printed with an explicit precision 0, the output is empty.

e,E

The double argument is rounded and converted in the style [-]d.ddde\*(Pmdd where there is one digit before the decimal-point character and the number of digits after it is equal to the precision; if the precision is missing, it is taken as 6; if the precision is zero, no decimal-point character appears. An E conversion uses the letter E (rather than e) to introduce the exponent. The exponent always contains at least two digits; if the value is zero, the exponent is 00.

f,F

The double argument is rounded and converted to decimal notation in the style [-]ddd.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.

(The SUSv2 does not know about F and says that character string representations for infinity and NaN may be made available. The C99 standard specifies `[-]inf' or `[-]infinity' for infinity, and a string starting with `nan' for NaN, in the case of f conversion, and `[-]INF' or `[-]INFINITY' or `NAN*' in the case of F conversion.)

g,G

The double argument is converted in style f or e (or F or E for G conversions). 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 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.

a,A

(C99; not in SUSv2) For a conversion, the double argument is converted to hexadecimal notation (using the letters abcdef) in the style [-]0xh.hhhhp\*(Pmd; for A conversion the prefix 0X, the letters ABCDEF, and the exponent separator P is used. There is one hexadecimal digit before the decimal point, and the number of digits after it is equal to the precision. The default precision suffices for an exact representation of the value if an exact representation in base 2 exists and otherwise is sufficiently large to distinguish values of type double. The digit before the decimal point is unspecified for non-normalized numbers, and nonzero but otherwise unspecified for normalized numbers.

c

If no l modifier is present, the int argument is converted to an unsigned char, and the resulting character is written. If an l modifier is present, the wint_t (wide character) argument is converted to a multibyte sequence by a call to the wcrtomb function, with a conversion state starting in the initial state, and the resulting multibyte string is written.

s

If no l modifier is present: The const char * argument is expected to be a pointer to an array of character type (pointer to a string). Characters from the array are written up to (but not including) a terminating NUL character; if a precision is specified, no more than the number specified 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.

If an l modifier is present: The const wchar_t * argument is expected to be a pointer to an array of wide characters. Wide characters from the array are converted to multibyte characters (each by a call to the wcrtomb function, with a conversion state starting in the initial state before the first wide character), up to and including a terminating null wide character. The resulting multibyte characters are written up to (but not including) the terminating null byte. If a precision is specified, no more bytes than the number specified are written, but no partial multibyte characters are written. Note that the precision determines the number of bytes written, not the number of wide characters or screen positions. The array must contain a terminating null wide character, unless a precision is given and it is so small that the number of bytes written exceeds it before the end of the array is reached.

C

(Not in C99, but in SUSv2.) Synonym for lc. Don't use.

S

(Not in C99, but in SUSv2.) Synonym for ls. Don't use.

p

The void * pointer argument is printed in hexadecimal (as if by %#x or %#lx).

n

The number of characters written so far is stored into the integer indicated by the int * (or variant) pointer argument. No argument is converted.

%

A `%' is written. No argument is converted. The complete conversion specification is `%%'.

EXAMPLES

To print to five decimal places:

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

To print a date and time in the form `Sunday, July 3, 10:02', where weekday and month are pointers to strings:

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

Many countries use the day-month-year order. Hence, an internationalized version must be able to print the arguments in an order specified by the format:

#include <stdio.h>
fprintf(stdout, format,
        weekday, month, day, hour, min);

where format depends on locale, and may permute the arguments. With the value

"%1$s, %3$d. %2$s, %4$d:%5$.2d\n"

one might obtain `Sonntag, 3. Juli, 10:02'.

To allocate a sufficiently large string and print into it (code correct for both glibc 2.0 and glibc 2.1):

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdarg.h>
char *
make_message(const char *fmt, ...) {
   /* Guess we need no more than 100 bytes. */
   int n, size = 100;
   char *p;
   va_list ap;
   if ((p = malloc (size)) == NULL)
      return NULL;
   while (1) {
      /* Try to print in the allocated space. */
      va_start(ap, fmt);
      n = vsnprintf (p, size, fmt, ap);
      va_end(ap);
      /* If that worked, return the string. */
      if (n > -1 && n < size)
         return p;
      /* Else try again with more space. */
      if (n > -1)    /* glibc 2.1 */
         size = n+1; /* precisely what is needed */
      else           /* glibc 2.0 */
         size *= 2;  /* twice the old size */
      if ((p = realloc (p, size)) == NULL)
         return NULL;
   }
}

NOTES

The glibc implementation of the functions snprintf and vsnprintf conforms to the C99 standard, i.e., behaves as described above, since glibc version 2.1. Until glibc 2.0.6 they would return -1 when the output was truncated.  

CONFORMING TO

The fprintf, printf, sprintf, vprintf, vfprintf, and vsprintf functions conform to ANSI X3.159-1989 (``ANSI C'') and ISO/IEC 9899:1999 (``ISO C99''). The snprintf and vsnprintf functions conform to ISO/IEC 9899:1999.

Concerning the return value of snprintf, the SUSv2 and the C99 standard contradict each other: when snprintf is called with size=0 then SUSv2 stipulates an unspecified return value less than 1, while C99 allows str to be NULL in this case, and gives the return value (as always) as the number of characters that would have been written in case the output string has been large enough.

Linux libc4 knows about the five C standard flags. It knows about the length modifiers h,l,L, and the conversions cdeEfFgGinopsuxX, where F is a synonym for f. Additionally, it accepts D,O,U as synonyms for ld,lo,lu. (This is bad, and caused serious bugs later, when support for %D disappeared.) No locale-dependent radix character, no thousands' separator, no NaN or infinity, no %m$ and *m$.

Linux libc5 knows about the five C standard flags and the ' flag, locale, %m$ and *m$. It knows about the length modifiers h,l,L,Z,q, but accepts L and q both for long doubles and for long long integers (this is a bug). It no longer recognizes FDOU, but adds a new conversion character m, which outputs strerror(errno).

glibc 2.0 adds conversion characters C and S.

glibc 2.1 adds length modifiers hh,j,t,z and conversion characters a,A.

glibc 2.2 adds the conversion character F with C99 semantics, and the flag character I.  

HISTORY

Unix V7 defines the three routines printf, fprintf, sprintf, and has the flag -, the width or precision *, the length modifier l, and the conversions doxfegcsu, and also D,O,U,X as synonyms for ld,lo,lu,lx. This is still true for BSD 2.9.1, but BSD 2.10 has the flags #, + and <space> and no longer mentions D,O,U,X. BSD 2.11 has vprintf, vfprintf, vsprintf, and warns not to use D,O,U,X. BSD 4.3 Reno has the flag 0, the length modifiers h and L, and the conversions n, p, E, G, X (with current meaning) and deprecates D,O,U. BSD 4.4 introduces the functions snprintf and vsnprintf, and the length modifier q. FreeBSD also has functions asprintf and vasprintf, that allocate a buffer large enough for sprintf. In glibc there are functions dprintf and vdprintf that print to a file descriptor instead of a stream.  

BUGS

Because sprintf and vsprintf assume an arbitrarily long string, callers must be careful not to overflow the actual space; this is often impossible to assure. Note that the length of the strings produced is locale-dependent and difficult to predict. Use snprintf and vsnprintf instead (or asprintf and vasprintf).

Linux libc4.[45] does not have a snprintf, but provides a libbsd that contains an snprintf equivalent to sprintf, i.e., one that ignores the size argument. Thus, the use of snprintf with early libc4 leads to serious security problems.

Code such as printf(foo); often indicates a bug, since foo may contain a % character. If foo comes from untrusted user input, it may contain %n, causing the printf call to write to memory and creating a security hole.

SEE ALSO

printf(1), asprintf(3), dprintf(3), wcrtomb(3), wprintf(3), scanf(3), locale(5)