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) \b backspace \c produce no further output \e escape \f form feed \n new line \r carriage return \t 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 \0 or \0NNN and all C format specifications ending with one of diouxXfeEgGcs, with ARGUMENTs converted to proper type first. Variable widths are handled. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent per‐ mitted 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 8.22 November 2016 PRINTF(1)