SYNOPSIS

       printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT]...
       printf OPTION

DESCRIPTION

       Print ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT.

       --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 %

       %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 diouxXfeEgGcs, with
       ARGUMENTs converted to proper type first.  Variable widths are handled.

       NOTE:  your  shell  may  have  its own version of printf, which usually
       extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO

       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 printf

       should give you access to the complete manual.



GNU coreutils 6.9                 March 2007                         PRINTF(1)