Questions tagged [printf]
The shell builtin command that formats and prints data. Questions that deal with printf command or broadly using printf syntax by programming language (like awk, PHP, perl, C++...)
294 questions
1 vote
2 answers
173 views
How changing the terminal letters color and its whole background at the same time, using separate RGB or color codes?
It's often that when I am in a subject involving many processes of two or three kinds, I'm noticing that: one terminal I've opened is dedicated for my subject of kind #1, while another is opened to ...
- 2,499
2 votes
1 answer
206 views
`printf` and `time` formatting issues in a `zsh` shell script
I have the following (excerpt from a) zsh shell script (the FOLDER environment variable is exported earlier in the code): # Create temporary directory export TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d) # Set TIMEFMT to ...
- 269
1 vote
1 answer
99 views
What's the difference in manipulating the array between echo and printf in Bash?
I'm surprised by the difference in manipulating the array between echo and printf in Bash: printf cannot handle += operator Both printf and echo cannot get results of += out of while loop So, why? I'...
- 167
2 votes
4 answers
1k views
printf as a bash builtin vs an executable (behavior differences)
I am trying to better understand printf so I read multiple pages on this command, but I also stumbled upon different behavior of %q directive. Namely, stated on this page: What is the difference ...
- 31.3k
0 votes
0 answers
37 views
How does printf() actually work? [duplicate]
When I execute the c file #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> int main(){ printf("before the system call. I am too excited!\n"); system("ps"); ...
- 23
2 votes
0 answers
82 views
Rubbish value outputed by printf "%f" 380
The command printf "%d, %f, %o, %s, %x, %X\n" 380 380 380 380 380 380 outputs 380, 20689...2384.000000, 574, 380, 17c, 17C where the second output is a very large (with almost thousand ...
- 23
-1 votes
1 answer
165 views
Why is the printf Output Order Not Respected in a Concurrent Scenario with Piped or Redirected stdout?
We are in a concurrent scenario where we have n concurrent processes. By using a synchronization policy (e.g., using pipes or signals), each process can print using printf("string\n") only ...
-1 votes
3 answers
268 views
How to write script prefix braces with backslashes
I already posted add escape character with bash. I need script to this for every line in a file that starts with {@codeBlock so {@codeBlock: TEstBigquerry.buildPicks} should look like \{@codeBlock:\ ...
- 1,765
0 votes
1 answer
77 views
Format output and columms
In Linux in Bash in a for loop i do: ... ; do echo "$i --> $i-new" ; ... The output is than something like this: file1 --> file1-new file2 --> file2-new ... file9 --> ...
- 539
-2 votes
2 answers
342 views
How to add string at a specific position in each line
With awk '{ printf "%-15s %s\n", $1, $2 }' renamed | sort -V ... I get good output from the file renamed. It looks like: file1 file1.new But I want to have the output changed to ...
- 539
0 votes
0 answers
46 views
printf seems to fail in bash [duplicate]
With version GNU bash, version 5.2.32(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu) in present Debian testing this command: $ printf '%010f\n' '1234' 000.000000 Doesn't use the number given and changes on every ...
- 1
7 votes
3 answers
485 views
Bash printf float formatting became nonsensical and random
Bash printf floating number formatting (with %f or %g) is suddenly completely wrong, and changing all the time. An example output: $ export LC_ALL=C $ printf '%g\n' 1 1.20739e+3531 $ printf '%g\n' 1 4....
- 751
5 votes
1 answer
518 views
printf in Zsh does not shell escape exclamation mark
In Zsh 5.9, we can use printf to shell escape a string: $ printf '%q' 'One! Two' One\!\ Two This produces the correct output of escaping the ! and the space. Now let’s make it as a script: #!/bin/...
- 584
7 votes
1 answer
2k views
printf - store formatted string output in a variable
Instead of the following printf '%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n' 'index' 'podcast' 'website' 'YouTube' I want to store the printf output in a Results variable, how can I do this?
- 2,176
1 vote
1 answer
637 views
How do I pass hex characters to printf in a script command? [duplicate]
How do I get printf to output hex characters when run from a script? Suppose I am at the prompt and type printf "\x41\x42" the output I get AB% However if I have a script containing that ...
- 135