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

     \NNN character with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits)

     \\	  backslash

     \a	  alert	(BEL)

     \b	  backspace

     \c	  produce no further output

     \f	  form feed

     \n	  new line

     \r	  carriage return

     \t	  horizontal tab

     \v	  vertical tab

     \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 %



GNU coreutils 7.4     Last change: May 2009			1






User Commands						PRINTF(1)



     %b	  ARGUMENT as a	 string	 with  `\'  escapes  interpreted,
	  except that octal escapes are	of the form \0 or \0NNN

     and all C format specifications ending with one  of  diouxX-
     feEgGcs,  with  ARGUMENTs	converted  to  proper type first.
     Variable widths are handled.

     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/>

COPYRIGHT
     Copyright c 2009 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	redistri-
     bute  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 7.4     Last change: May 2009			2