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
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
Report printf bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.org
GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
Report printf translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2010 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)
The full documentation for printf is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and printf programs are properly installed at your site,
the command
info coreutils 'printf invocation'
should give you access to the complete manual.
GNU coreutils 8.5 February 2011 PRINTF(1)