The command operates by scanning formatString from left to right. Each character from the format string
is appended to the result string unless it is a percent sign. If the character is a % then it is not
copied to the result string. Instead, the characters following the % character are treated as a
conversion specifier. The conversion specifier controls the conversion of the next successive arg to a
particular format and the result is appended to the result string in place of the conversion specifier.
If there are multiple conversion specifiers in the format string, then each one controls the conversion
of one additional arg. The format command must be given enough args to meet the needs of all of the
conversion specifiers in formatString.
Each conversion specifier may contain up to six different parts: an XPG3 position specifier, a set of
flags, a minimum field width, a precision, a size modifier, and a conversion character. Any of these
fields may be omitted except for the conversion character. The fields that are present must appear in
the order given above. The paragraphs below discuss each of these fields in turn.
OPTIONALPOSITIONALSPECIFIER
If the % is followed by a decimal number and a $, as in “%2$d”, then the value to convert is not taken
from the next sequential argument. Instead, it is taken from the argument indicated by the number, where
1 corresponds to the first arg. If the conversion specifier requires multiple arguments because of *
characters in the specifier then successive arguments are used, starting with the argument given by the
number. This follows the XPG3 conventions for positional specifiers. If there are any positional
specifiers in formatString then all of the specifiers must be positional.
OPTIONALFLAGS
The second portion of a conversion specifier may contain any of the following flag characters, in any
order:
- Specifies that the converted argument should be left-justified in its field (numbers are
normally right-justified with leading spaces if needed).
+ Specifies that a number should always be printed with a sign, even if positive.
space Specifies that a space should be added to the beginning of the number if the first character is
not a sign.
0 Specifies that the number should be padded on the left with zeroes instead of spaces.
# Requests an alternate output form. For o conversions, 0o will be added to the beginning of the
result unless it is zero. For x or X conversions, 0x will be added to the beginning of the
result unless it is zero. For b conversions, 0b will be added to the beginning of the result
unless it is zero. For d conversions, 0d there is no effect unless the 0 specifier is used as
well: In that case, 0d will be added to the beginning. For all floating-point conversions (e,
E, f, g, and G) it guarantees that the result always has a decimal point. For g and G
conversions it specifies that trailing zeroes should not be removed.
OPTIONALFIELDWIDTH
The third portion of a conversion specifier is a decimal number giving a minimum field width for this
conversion. It is typically used to make columns line up in tabular printouts. If the converted
argument contains fewer characters than the minimum field width then it will be padded so that it is as
wide as the minimum field width. Padding normally occurs by adding extra spaces on the left of the
converted argument, but the 0 and - flags may be used to specify padding with zeroes on the left or with
spaces on the right, respectively. If the minimum field width is specified as * rather than a number,
then the next argument to the format command determines the minimum field width; it must be an integer
value.
OPTIONALPRECISION/BOUND
The fourth portion of a conversion specifier is a precision, which consists of a period followed by a
number. The number is used in different ways for different conversions. For e, E, and f conversions it
specifies the number of digits to appear to the right of the decimal point. For g and G conversions it
specifies the total number of digits to appear, including those on both sides of the decimal point
(however, trailing zeroes after the decimal point will still be omitted unless the # flag has been
specified). For integer conversions, it specifies a minimum number of digits to print (leading zeroes
will be added if necessary). For s conversions it specifies the maximum number of characters to be
printed; if the string is longer than this then the trailing characters will be dropped. If the precision
is specified with * rather than a number then the next argument to the format command determines the
precision; it must be a numeric string.
OPTIONALSIZEMODIFIER
The fifth part of a conversion specifier is a size modifier, which must be ll, h, l, z, t, or L. If it
is ll it specifies that an integer value is taken without truncation for conversion to a formatted
substring. If it is h it specifies that an integer value is truncated to a 16-bit range before
converting. This option is rarely useful. If it is l (or j or q) it specifies that the integer value is
truncated to the same range as that produced by the wide() function of the expr command (at least a
64-bit range). If it is z or t it specifies that the integer value is truncated to the range determined
by the value of the pointerSize element of the tcl_platform array. If it is L it specifies that an
integer or double value is taken without truncation for conversion to a formatted substring. If neither
of those are present, the integer value is truncated to a 32-bit range.
MANDATORYCONVERSIONTYPE
The last thing in a conversion specifier is an alphabetic character that determines what kind of
conversion to perform. The following conversion characters are currently supported:
d Convert integer to signed decimal string.
u Convert integer to unsigned decimal string.
i Convert integer to signed decimal string (equivalent to d).
o Convert integer to unsigned octal string.
x or X Convert integer to unsigned hexadecimal string, using digits “0123456789abcdef” for x and
“0123456789ABCDEF” for X).
b Convert integer to unsigned binary string, using digits 0 and 1.
c Convert integer to the Unicode character it represents.
s No conversion; just insert string.
f Convert number to signed decimal string of the form xx.yyy, where the number of y's is
determined by the precision (default: 6). If the precision is 0 then no decimal point is
output.
e or E Convert number to scientific notation in the form x.yyye±zz, where the number of y's is
determined by the precision (default: 6). If the precision is 0 then no decimal point is
output. If the E form is used then E is printed instead of e.
g or G If the exponent is less than -4 or greater than or equal to the precision, then convert number
as for %e or %E. Otherwise convert as for %f. Trailing zeroes and a trailing decimal point
are omitted.
a or A Convert double to hexadecimal notation in the form 0x1.yyyp±zz, where the number of y's is
determined by the precision (default: 13). If the A form is used then the hex characters are
printed in uppercase.
% No conversion: just insert %.
p Shorthand form for 0x%zx, so it outputs the integer in hexadecimal form with 0x prefix.
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