4/3/2024

Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

Chapter 3

Formatted Input/Output

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

The printf Function

• The printf function must be supplied with a format
string, followed by any values that are to be inserted
into the string during printing:
printf(string, expr1, expr2, …);
• The format string may contain both ordinary
characters and conversion specifications, which begin
with the % character.
• A conversion specification is a placeholder
representing a value to be filled in during printing.
– %d is used for int values
– %f is used for float values

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

The printf Function

• Ordinary characters in a format string are printed as they
appear in the string; conversion specifications are replaced.
• Example:
int i, j;
float x, y;

i = 10;
j = 20;
x = 43.2892f;
y = 5527.0f;

printf("i = %d, j = %d, x = %f, y = %f\n", i, j, x, y);

• Output:
i = 10, j = 20, x = 43.289200, y = 5527.000000

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

The printf Function

• Compilers aren’t required to check that the
number of conversion specifications in a format
string matches the number of output items.
• Too many conversion specifications:
printf("%d %d\n", i); /*** WRONG ***/
• Too few conversion specifications:
printf("%d\n", i, j); /*** WRONG ***/

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

The printf Function

• Compilers aren’t required to check that a
conversion specification is appropriate.
• If the programmer uses an incorrect specification,
the program will produce meaningless output:
printf("%f %d\n", i, x); /*** WRONG ***/

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

Conversion Specifications
• A conversion specification can have the form %m.pX
or %-m.pX, where m and p are integer constants and
X is a letter.
• Both m and p are optional; if p is omitted, the period
that separates m and p is also dropped.
• In the conversion specification %10.2f, m is 10, p is
2, and X is f.
• In the specification %10f, m is 10 and p (along with
the period) is missing, but in the specification %.2f, p
is 2 and m is missing.

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

Conversion Specifications
• The minimum field width, m, specifies the minimum
number of characters to print.
• If the value to be printed requires fewer than m characters,
it is right-justified within the field.
– %4d displays the number 123 as •123. (• represents the
space character.)
• If the value to be printed requires more than m characters,
the field width automatically expands to the necessary size.
• Putting a minus sign in front of m causes left justification.
– The specification %-4d would display 123 as 123•.

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

Conversion Specifications
• The meaning of the precision, p, depends on the
choice of X, the conversion specifier.
• The d specifier is used to display an integer in
decimal form.
– p indicates the minimum number of digits to display
(extra zeros are added to the beginning of the number if
necessary).
– If p is omitted, it is assumed to be 1.

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

Program: Using printf to Format Numbers

• The tprintf.c program uses printf to
display integers and floating-point numbers in
various formats.

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

Escape Sequences
• The \n code that used in format strings is called
an escape sequence.
• Escape sequences enable strings to contain
nonprinting (control) characters and characters
that have a special meaning (such as ").
• A partial list of escape sequences:
Alert (bell) \a
Backspace \b
New line \n
Horizontal tab \t

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

Escape Sequences
• A string may contain any number of escape
sequences:
printf("Item\tUnit\tPurchase\n\tPrice\tDate\n");
• Executing this statement prints a two-line heading:
Item Unit Purchase
Price Date

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

Escape Sequences
• Another common escape sequence is \", which
represents the " character:
printf("\"Hello!\"");
/* prints "Hello!" */
• To print a single \ character, put two \ characters
in the string:
printf("\\");
/* prints one \ character */

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

The scanf Function

• scanf reads input according to a particular
format.
• A scanf format string may contain both ordinary
characters and conversion specifications.
• The conversions allowed with scanf are
essentially the same as those used with printf.

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

The scanf Function

• In many cases, a scanf format string will contain
only conversion specifications:
int i, j;
float x, y;
scanf("%d%d%f%f", &i, &j, &x, &y);
• Sample input:
1 -20 .3 -4.0e3
scanf will assign 1, –20, 0.3, and –4000.0 to i,
j, x, and y, respectively.

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Chapter 3: Formatted Input/Output

The scanf Function

• When using scanf, the programmer must check
that the number of conversion specifications
matches the number of input variables and that
each conversion is appropriate for the
corresponding variable.
• Another trap involves the & symbol, which
normally precedes each variable in a scanf call.
• The & is usually (but not always) required, and it’s
the programmer’s responsibility to remember to
use it.
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