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printf function - formatted string output

Use the printf function to set the format and print the string.

printf "Number%03d%.3f\n", 3, 3.14567;

The above output result is as follows. The integer "3" is padded with 0s to the left so that it has 3 digits. The decimal point "3.14567" is rounded to three decimal places of "3.146".

Number 003 3.146

"%03d" and "%.3f" are called format specifiers. See sprintf function description for more information on format specifiers.

• sprintf function - String formatting

Output to file

Like print function, the fprintf function can also be output by specifying a filehandle using indirect object notation.

# Output to standard error output
printf STDERR "Number%03d%.3f\n", 3, 3.14567;

# Output to file using file handle
printf $fh "Number%03d%.3f\n", 3, 3.14567;

Note that there are no commas behind the filehandle.

For details on how to output, see the explanation of print function.

• print function - string output

Export the formatted string to a variable

The printf function is a function that outputs, but you can use sprintf function to write a formatted string to a variable.

my $string = sprintf "Number%03d%.3f\n", 3, 3.14567;

See below for more information on the sprintf function.

• sprintf function - String formatting