printf, fprintf, sprintf, snprintf, printf_s, fprintf_s, sprintf_s, snprintf_s (2024)

C

Language
Headers
Type support
Program utilities
Variadic function support
Error handling
Dynamic memory management
Strings library
Algorithms
Numerics
Date and time utilities
Input/output support
Localization support
Concurrency support (C11)
Technical Specifications
Symbol index

[edit]

File input/output

Types and objects

FILE

fpos_t


stdinstdoutstderr

Functions
File access

fopenfopen_s

(C11)

freopenfreopen_s

(C11)

fwide

(C95)

setbuf

setvbuf

fclose

fflush

Direct input/output

fread

fwrite

Unformatted input/output

fgetc

fgets

fputc

fputs

getchar

getsgets_s

(until C11)(C11)

putchar

puts

ungetc

fgetwcgetwc

(C95)(C95)

fgetws

(C95)

fputwcputwc

(C95)(C95)

fputws

(C95)

getwchar

(C95)

putwchar

(C95)

ungetwc

(C95)

Formatted input

scanffscanfsscanfscanf_sfscanf_ssscanf_s

(C11)(C11)(C11)

wscanffwscanfswscanfwscanf_sfwscanf_sswscanf_s

(C95)(C95)(C95)(C11)(C11)(C11)

vscanfvfscanfvsscanfvscanf_svfscanf_svsscanf_s

(C99)(C99)(C99)(C11)(C11)(C11)

vwscanfvfwscanfvswscanfvwscanf_svfwscanf_svswscanf_s

(C99)(C99)(C99)(C11)(C11)(C11)

Formatted output

printffprintfsprintfsnprintfprintf_sfprintf_ssprintf_ssnprintf_s

(C99)(C11)(C11)(C11)(C11)

wprintffwprintfswprintfwprintf_sfwprintf_sswprintf_ssnwprintf_s

(C95)(C95)(C95)(C11)(C11)(C11)(C11)

vprintfvfprintfvsprintfvsnprintfvprintf_svfprintf_svsprintf_svsnprintf_s

(C99)(C11)(C11)(C11)(C11)

vwprintfvfwprintfvswprintfvwprintf_svfwprintf_svswprintf_svsnwprintf_s

(C95)(C95)(C95)(C11)(C11)(C11)(C11)

File positioning

ftell

fgetpos

fseek

fsetpos

rewind

Error handling

clearerr

feof

ferror

perror

Operations on files

remove

rename

tmpfiletmpfile_s

(C11)

tmpnamtmpnam_s

(C11)

Defined in header <stdio.h>

(1)

int printf( const char *format, ... );

(until C99)

int printf( const char *restrict format, ... );

(since C99)
(2)

int fprintf( FILE *stream, const char *format, ... );

(until C99)

int fprintf( FILE *restrict stream, const char *restrict format, ... );

(since C99)
(3)

int sprintf( char *buffer, const char *format, ... );

(until C99)

int sprintf( char *restrict buffer, const char *restrict format, ... );

(since C99)

int snprintf( char *restrict buffer, size_t bufsz,
const char *restrict format, ... );

(4) (since C99)

int printf_s( const char *restrict format, ... );

(5) (since C11)

int fprintf_s( FILE *restrict stream, const char *restrict format, ... );

(6) (since C11)

int sprintf_s( char *restrict buffer, rsize_t bufsz,
const char *restrict format, ... );

(7) (since C11)

int snprintf_s( char *restrict buffer, rsize_t bufsz,
const char *restrict format, ... );

(8) (since C11)

Loads the data from the given locations, converts them to character string equivalents and writes the results to a variety of sinks/streams:

1) Writes the results to the output stream stdout.

2) Writes the results to the output stream stream.

3) Writes the results to a character string buffer. The behavior is undefined if the string to be written (plus the terminating null character) exceeds the size of the array pointed to by buffer.

4) Writes the results to a character string buffer. At most bufsz - 1 characters are written. The resulting character string will be terminated with a null character, unless bufsz is zero. If bufsz is zero, nothing is written and buffer may be a null pointer, however the return value (number of bytes that would be written not including the null terminator) is still calculated and returned.

5-8) Same as (1-4), except that the following errors are detected at runtime and call the currently installed constraint handler function:

  • the conversion specifier %n is present in format
  • any of the arguments corresponding to %s is a null pointer
  • stream or format or buffer is a null pointer
  • bufsz is zero or greater than RSIZE_MAX
  • encoding errors occur in any of string and character conversion specifiers
  • (for sprintf_s only), the string to be stored in buffer (including the trailing null) would exceed bufsz
As with all bounds-checked functions, printf_s , fprintf_s, sprintf_s, and snprintf_s are only guaranteed to be available if __STDC_LIB_EXT1__ is defined by the implementation and if the user defines __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ to the integer constant 1 before including <stdio.h>.

Contents

  • 1 Parameters
  • 2 Return value
  • 3 Notes
  • 4 Example
  • 5 References
  • 6 See also

[edit] Parameters

stream - output file stream to write to
buffer - pointer to a character string to write to
bufsz - up to bufsz - 1 characters may be written, plus the null terminator
format - pointer to a null-terminated byte string specifying how to interpret the data
... - arguments specifying data to print. If any argument after default argument promotions is not the type expected by the corresponding conversion specifier, or if there are fewer arguments than required by format, the behavior is undefined. If there are more arguments than required by format, the extraneous arguments are evaluated and ignored.


The format string consists of ordinary byte characters (except %), which are copied unchanged into the output stream, and conversion specifications. Each conversion specification has the following format:

  • introductory % character.
  • (optional) one or more flags that modify the behavior of the conversion:
  • -: the result of the conversion is left-justified within the field (by default it is right-justified).
  • +: the sign of signed conversions is always prepended to the result of the conversion (by default the result is preceded by minus only when it is negative).
  • space: if the result of a signed conversion does not start with a sign character, or is empty, space is prepended to the result. It is ignored if + flag is present.
  • #: alternative form of the conversion is performed. See the table below for exact effects otherwise the behavior is undefined.
  • 0: for integer and floating point number conversions, leading zeros are used to pad the field instead of space characters. For integer numbers it is ignored if the precision is explicitly specified. For other conversions using this flag results in undefined behavior. It is ignored if - flag is present.
  • (optional) integer value or * that specifies minimum field width. The result is padded with space characters (by default), if required, on the left when right-justified, or on the right if left-justified. In the case when * is used, the width is specified by an additional argument of type int, which appears before the argument to be converted and the argument supplying precision if one is supplied. If the value of the argument is negative, it results with the - flag specified and positive field width (Note: This is the minimum width: The value is never truncated.).
  • (optional) . followed by integer number or *, or neither that specifies precision of the conversion. In the case when * is used, the precision is specified by an additional argument of type int, which appears before the argument to be converted, but after the argument supplying minimum field width if one is supplied. If the value of this argument is negative, it is ignored. If neither a number nor * is used, the precision is taken as zero. See the table below for exact effects of precision.
  • (optional) length modifier that specifies the size of the argument (in combination with the conversion format specifier, it specifies the type of the corresponding argument).
  • conversion format specifier.

The following format specifiers are available:

Conversion
Specifier
ExplanationExpected
Argument Type

Length
Modifier

hh

(C99)

h(none)lll

(C99)

j

(C99)

z

(C99)

t

(C99)

L
%Writes literal %. The full conversion specification must be %%. N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
c
Writes a single character.

The argument is first converted to unsigned char.If the l modifier is used, the argument is first converted to a character string as if by %ls with a wchar_t[2] argument.

N/A N/A

int

wint_t

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
s
Writes a character string

The argument must be a pointer to the initial element of an array of characters. Precision specifies the maximum number of bytes to be written. If Precision is not specified, writes every byte up to and not including the first null terminator.If the l specifier is used, the argument must be a pointer to the initial element of an array of wchar_t, which is converted to char array as if by a call to wcrtomb with zero-initialized conversion state.

N/A N/A

char*

wchar_t*

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
d
i
Converts a signed integer into decimal representation [-]dddd.

Precision specifies the minimum number of digits to appear. The default precision is 1.

If both the converted value and the precision are 0 the conversion results in no characters.

signed char

short

int

long

long long

intmax_t

signed size_t

ptrdiff_t

N/A
o
Converts an unsigned integer into octal representation oooo.

Precision specifies the minimum number of digits to appear. The default precision is 1. If both the converted value and the precision are 0 the conversion results in no characters.In the alternative implementation precision is increased if necessary, to write one leading zero.In that case if both the converted value and the precision are 0, single 0 is written.

unsigned char

unsigned short

unsigned int

unsigned long

unsigned long long

uintmax_t

size_t

unsigned version of ptrdiff_t

N/A
x
X
Converts an unsigned integer into hexadecimal representation hhhh.

For the x conversion letters abcdef are used.
For the X conversion letters ABCDEF are used.
Precision specifies the minimum number of digits to appear. The default precision is 1.If both the converted value and the precision are 0 the conversion results in no characters.In the alternative implementation 0x or 0X is prefixed to results if the converted value is nonzero.

N/A
u
Converts an unsigned integer into decimal representation dddd.

Precision specifies the minimum number of digits to appear. The default precision is 1. If both the converted value and the precision are 0 the conversion results in no characters.

N/A
f
F
Converts floating-point number to the decimal notation in the style [-]ddd.ddd.

Precision specifies the exact number of digits to appear after the decimal point character. The default precision is 6.In the alternative implementation decimal point character is written even if no digits follow it.For infinity and not-a-number conversion style see notes.

N/A N/A

double

double(C99)

N/A N/A N/A N/A

long double

e
E
Converts floating-point number to the decimal exponent notation.

For the e conversion style [-]d.ddde±dd is used.
For the E conversion style [-]d.dddE±dd is used.
The exponent contains at least two digits, more digits are used only if necessary. If the value is 0, the exponent is also 0.Precision specifies the exact number of digits to appear after the decimal point character. The default precision is 6.In the alternative implementation decimal point character is written even if no digits follow it.For infinity and not-a-number conversion style see notes.

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
a
A

(C99)

Converts floating-point number to the hexadecimal exponent notation.

For the a conversion style [-]0xh.hhhp±d is used.
For the A conversion style [-]0Xh.hhhP±d is used.
The first hexadecimal digit is not 0 if the argument is a normalized floating point value.If the value is 0, the exponent is also 0.Precision specifies the exact number of digits to appear after the hexadecimal point character. The default precision is sufficient for exact representation of the value.In the alternative implementation decimal point character is written even if no digits follow it.For infinity and not-a-number conversion style see notes.

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
g
G
Converts floating-point number to decimal or decimal exponent notation depending on the value and the precision.

For the g conversion style conversion with style e or f will be performed.
For the G conversion style conversion with style E or F will be performed.
Let P equal the precision if nonzero, 6 if the precision is not specified, or 1 if the precision is 0. Then, if a conversion with style E would have an exponent of X:

  • if P > X ≥ −4, the conversion is with style f or F and precision P − 1 − X.
  • otherwise, the conversion is with style e or E and precision P − 1.

Unless alternative representation is requested the trailing zeros are removed, also the decimal point character is removed if no fractional part is left.For infinity and not-a-number conversion style see notes.

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
n
Returns the number of characters written so far by this call to the function.

The result is written to the value pointed to by the argument. The specification may not contain any flag, field width, or precision.

signed char*

short*

int*

long*

long long*

intmax_t*

signed size_t*

ptrdiff_t*

N/A
pWrites an implementation defined character sequence defining a pointer. N/A N/Avoid* N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

The floating point conversion functions convert infinity to inf or infinity. Which one is used is implementation defined.

Not-a-number is converted to nan or nan(char_sequence). Which one is used is implementation defined.

The conversions F, E, G, A output INF, INFINITY, NAN instead.

Even though %c expects int argument, it is safe to pass a char because of the integer promotion that takes place when a variadic function is called.

The correct conversion specifications for the fixed-width character types (int8_t, etc) are defined in the header <inttypes.h> (although PRIdMAX, PRIuMAX, etc is synonymous with %jd, %ju, etc).

The memory-writing conversion specifier %n is a common target of security exploits where format strings depend on user input and is not supported by the bounds-checked printf_s family of functions.

There is a sequence point after the action of each conversion specifier; this permits storing multiple %n results in the same variable or, as an edge case, printing a string modified by an earlier %n within the same call.

If a conversion specification is invalid, the behavior is undefined.

[edit] Return value

1,2) number of characters transmitted to the output stream or negative value if an output error or an encoding error (for string and character conversion specifiers) occurred

3) number of characters written to buffer (not counting the terminating null character), or a negative value if an encoding error (for string and character conversion specifiers) occurred

4) number of characters (not including the terminating null character) which would have been written to buffer if bufsz was ignored, or a negative value if an encoding error (for string and character conversion specifiers) occurred

5,6) number of characters transmitted to the output stream or negative value if an output error, a runtime constraints violation error, or an encoding error occurred.

7) number of characters written to buffer, not counting the null character (which is always written as long as buffer is not a null pointer and bufsz is not zero and not greater than RSIZE_MAX), or zero on runtime constraint violations, and negative value on encoding errors

8) number of characters not including the terminating null character (which is always written as long as buffer is not a null pointer and bufsz is not zero and not greater than RSIZE_MAX), which would have been written to buffer if bufsz was ignored, or a negative value if a runtime constraints violation or an encoding error occurred

[edit] Notes

The C standard and POSIX specify that the behavior of sprintf and its variants is undefined when an argument overlaps with the destination buffer. Example:

sprintf(dst, "%s and%s", dst, t); // <- broken: undefined behavior

POSIX specifies that errno is set on error. It also specifies additional conversion specifications, most notably support for argument reordering (n$ immediately after % indicates nth argument).

Calling snprintf with zero bufsz and null pointer for buffer is useful to determine the necessary buffer size to contain the output:

const char fmt[] = "sqrt(2) =%f";int sz = snprintf(NULL, 0, fmt, sqrt(2));char buf[sz + 1]; // note +1 for terminating null bytesnprintf(buf, sizeof buf, fmt, sqrt(2));

snprintf_s, just like snprintf, but unlike sprintf_s, will truncate the output to fit in bufsz-1.

[edit] Example

Run this code

#include <stdio.h>#include <stdint.h>#include <inttypes.h>int main(void){ const char* s = "Hello"; printf("Strings:\n"); // same as puts("Strings"); printf(" padding:\n"); printf("\t[%10s]\n", s); printf("\t[%-10s]\n", s); printf("\t[%*s]\n", 10, s); printf(" truncating:\n"); printf("\t%.4s\n", s); printf("\t%.*s\n", 3, s); printf("Characters:\t%c%%\n", 'A'); printf("Integers:\n"); printf("\tDecimal:\t%i%d%.6i%i%.0i%+i%i\n", 1, 2, 3, 0, 0, 4,-4); printf("\tHexadecimal:\t%x%x%X%#x\n", 5, 10, 10, 6); printf("\tOctal:\t\t%o%#o%#o\n", 10, 10, 4); printf("Floating point:\n"); printf("\tRounding:\t%f%.0f%.32f\n", 1.5, 1.5, 1.3); printf("\tPadding:\t%05.2f%.2f%5.2f\n", 1.5, 1.5, 1.5); printf("\tScientific:\t%E%e\n", 1.5, 1.5); printf("\tHexadecimal:\t%a%A\n", 1.5, 1.5); printf("\tSpecial values:\t0/0=%g 1/0=%g\n", 0.0/0.0, 1.0/0.0); printf("Fixed-width types:\n"); printf("\tLargest 32-bit value is%" PRIu32 " or%#" PRIx32 "\n", UINT32_MAX, UINT32_MAX );}

Possible output:

Strings: padding:[ Hello][Hello ][ Hello] truncating:HellHelCharacters:A%Integers:Decimal:1 2 000003 0 +4 -4Hexadecimal:5 a A 0x6Octal:12 012 04Floating point:Rounding:1.500000 2 1.30000000000000004440892098500626Padding:01.50 1.50 1.50Scientific:1.500000E+00 1.500000e+00Hexadecimal:0x1.8p+0 0X1.8P+0Special values:0/0=-nan 1/0=infFixed-width types:Largest 32-bit value is 4294967295 or 0xffffffff

[edit] References

  • C17 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2018):
  • 7.21.6.1 The fprintf function (p: 225-230)
  • 7.21.6.3 The printf function (p: 236)
  • 7.21.6.5 The snprintf function (p: 237)
  • 7.21.6.6 The sprintf function (p: 237)
  • K.3.5.3.1 The fprintf_s function (p: 430)
  • K.3.5.3.3 The printf_s function (p: 432)
  • K.3.5.3.5 The snprintf_s function (p: 432-433)
  • K.3.5.3.6 The sprintf_s function (p: 433)
  • C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011):
  • 7.21.6.1 The fprintf function (p: 309-316)
  • 7.21.6.3 The printf function (p: 324)
  • 7.21.6.5 The snprintf function (p: 325)
  • 7.21.6.6 The sprintf function (p: 325-326)
  • K.3.5.3.1 The fprintf_s function (p: 591)
  • K.3.5.3.3 The printf_s function (p: 593-594)
  • K.3.5.3.5 The snprintf_s function (p: 594-595)
  • K.3.5.3.6 The sprintf_s function (p: 595-596)
  • C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999):
  • 7.19.6.1 The fprintf function (p: 274-282)
  • 7.19.6.3 The printf function (p: 290)
  • 7.19.6.5 The snprintf function (p: 290-291)
  • 7.19.6.6 The sprintf function (p: 291)
  • C89/C90 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1990):
  • 4.9.6.1 The fprintf function
  • 4.9.6.3 The printf function
  • 4.9.6.5 The sprintf function

[edit] See also

wprintffwprintfswprintfwprintf_sfwprintf_sswprintf_ssnwprintf_s

(C95)(C95)(C95)(C11)(C11)(C11)(C11)

prints formatted wide character output to stdout, a file stream or a buffer
(function) [edit]

vprintfvfprintfvsprintfvsnprintfvprintf_svfprintf_svsprintf_svsnprintf_s

(C99)(C11)(C11)(C11)(C11)

prints formatted output to stdout, a file stream or a buffer
using variable argument list
(function) [edit]

fputs

writes a character string to a file stream
(function) [edit]

scanffscanfsscanfscanf_sfscanf_ssscanf_s

(C11)(C11)(C11)

reads formatted input from stdin, a file stream or a buffer
(function) [edit]

C++ documentation for printf, fprintf, sprintf, snprintf

printf, fprintf, sprintf, snprintf, printf_s, fprintf_s, sprintf_s, snprintf_s (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between sprintf and Snprintf_s? ›

You might want to reconsider the question. The difference between sprintf and snprintf is primarily that snprintf is intended to limit itself to writing into the given array and to return how many bytes are needed to write the string fully.

Should I use sprintf or snprintf? ›

The concern with the sprintf function is that, when not utilized properly, it can lead to buffer overflows. The similar snprintf the function is more secure because it uses an extra parameter—the maximum number of characters for the output string that can prevent this issue.

What is the difference between fprintf and Fprintf_s? ›

In addition to fprintf, fprintf_s has additional run-time constraints referring to the fact that the %n specifier may not be contained in format and the corresponding argument to a %s specifier in the arguments list must not be a null pointer. In case of an error, fprintf_s stops producing output.

What does SNprintf do in C? ›

The snprintf() function redirects the output of the standard printf() function to a buffer. It is important to note that snprintf() appends a null character to the end of the resulting output. This null character is also counted towards the size of the string.

What is the difference between sprintf and fprintf? ›

fprintf places output on the named output stream. sprintf places "output", followed by the null character (\0) in consecutive bytes starting at * s; it is the user's responsibility to ensure that enough storage is available.

Why not to use sprintf? ›

Sprintf() requires additional CPU cycles and memory allocation. Although the overhead may seem insignificant in isolation, repeated usage or in performance-critical code paths can impact the overall runtime efficiency of your program.

What is the equivalent of snprintf? ›

The snprintf function is equivalent to the sprintf function, except that no more than maxlen characters are written to the dest string. the snprintf function returns a negative value whose magnitude is equal to the value of maxlen .

What is the return value of snprintf? ›

Returned Value

The snprintf() function returns the number of characters that would have been written had n been sufficiently large, not counting the terminating null character, or a negative value if an encoding error occurred.

How to use sprint f? ›

How to use the sprintf() method in C
  1. Syntax. The function is declared in C as: int sprintf(char *str, const char *format, [arg1, arg2, ... ]); where, ...
  2. Multiple arguments can also be used: int main() { char output[50]; ...
  3. sprintf returns the length of the converted string, as shown below: int main() { int num = 3003;

What is the difference between printf() and sprintf()? ›

The difference is that sprintf() returns the string; printf() echoes/prints the string.

What is the use of fprintf ()? ›

The purpose of the fprintf() function is to write formatted data to a file. The fprintf() function is almost identical to the printf() function. The only difference is that the fprintf() function writes data into the given file. Moreover, an extra argument is also present in the fprintf() function.

When to use fprintf and printf in C? ›

In essence, fprintf deals with files or streams, while printf outputs to the console.

What is the purpose of Sprintf ()? ›

sprintf stands for "string print". In C programming language, it is a file handling function that is used to send formatted output to the string. Instead of printing on console, sprintf() function stores the output on char buffer that is specified in sprintf.

What is the difference between Snprintf and Vsprintf? ›

In contrast, the snprintf() function can have a list of arguments, but the number of arguments in that list is fixed when you compile the program. The vsnprintf() function converts each entry in the argument list according to the corresponding format specifier in format.

Does Snprintf always terminate? ›

snprintf always stores a terminating NULL character, truncating the output if necessary. If snprintf returns a value > count - 1, the output has been truncated.

What is the difference between sprintf and Vsprintf? ›

The vsprintf() function is similar to sprintf(), except that arg_ptr points to a list of arguments whose number can vary from call to call in the program. In contrast, sprintf() can have a list of arguments, but the number of arguments in that list is fixed when you compile the program.

What is the purpose of sprintf? ›

sprintf stands for "string print". In C programming language, it is a file handling function that is used to send formatted output to the string. Instead of printing on console, sprintf() function stores the output on char buffer that is specified in sprintf.

What is the difference between sprintf and asprintf? ›

It's similar to sprintf(), except that asprintf() allocates a string for the formatted output. A null character is placed at the end of the generated character string. If asprintf() is successful, it sets * strp to point to the string. You should call free() to free the string when you're finished with it.

Why is sprintf deprecated? ›

Using sprintf , there is no way to limit the number of characters written, which means that code using sprintf is susceptible to buffer overruns.

References

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