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Which is the printf command in bash script?
Bash printf Command. Typically, when writing bash scripts, we use echo to print to the standard output. echo is a simple command but is limited in its capabilities. To have more control over the formatting of the output, use the printf command. The printf command formats and prints its arguments, similar to the C printf () function.
How to print a string in Bash builtin?
We will cover the Bash builtin version of printf. The syntax for the printf command is as follows: The -v option tells printf not to print the output but to assign it to the variable. The format is a string which may contain three different types of objects: Normal characters that are simply printed to the output as-is.
What happens when you pass arguments to printf?
Below are a few points to consider when passing arguments the printf command: The shell will substitute all variables, wildcard matching, and special characters before passing the arguments to the printf command. When using single quotes ” the literal value of each character enclosed within the quotes will be preserved.
How to print a floating point number in Bash?
%e, %E – Print the argument as a floating-point number in exponential notation. %e prints lower-case letters and %E prints upper-case. %a, %A – Print the argument as a floating-point number in hexadecimal fractional notation. %a prints lower-case letters and %A prints upper-case.
When to use echo or printf in Bash?
When it comes to print something in bash scripting, the “echo” command is most commonly used because it is easy to use and remember. But “echo” command has its limitation. Therefore, to properly format the output, the “printf” command can be used.
How to print floating point numbers in Bash?
To printf floating point numbers a %f specifier is our friend: The default behaviour of %f printf specifier is to print floating point numbers with 6 decimal places. To limit a decimal places to 1 we can specify a precision in a following manner: Formatting to three places with preceding with 0: Simple table.