#50851 [NEW]: sprintf's %s doesn't work correctly

From: mmaning at practiceinsight dot net Operating system: Linux PHP version: 5.2.12 PHP Bug Type: Output Control Bug description: sprintf's %s doesn't work correctly Description: ------------ The %s function in sprintf works just like all of the other % commands - except when you attempt to restrict how large the string is. See the code below. Also, this happens for printf as well. It also happens under Linux and Windows. Since %22c doesn't work because %c only does a single character (it returns a null string when trying to use %22c), only %22s can be used. As can be seen from the first of the two lines, when the string passed in is less than 22 characters - it is padded to be 22 characters long. Thus negating anyone's wish to say "The %s function isn't supposed to be used like that." If it wasn't, then the first occurrence would have simply generated "(--------------------)" instead of what it did. Reproduce code: --------------- <?php $s = str_repeat( "-", 20 ); echo sprintf( "My String (%22s) is 22 characters long.\n", $s ); $s = str_repeat( "-", 40 ); echo sprintf( "My String (%22s) is 22 characters long.\n", $s ); exit( 0 ); $s = str_repeat( "-", 20 ); printf( "My String (%22s) is 22 characters long.\n", $s ); $s = str_repeat( "-", 40 ); printf( "My String (%22s) is 22 characters long.\n", $s ); exit( 0 ); ?> Expected result: ---------------- My String ( --------------------) is 22 characters long. My String (----------------------) is 22 characters long. My String ( --------------------) is 22 characters long. My String (----------------------) is 22 characters long. Actual result: -------------- My String ( --------------------) is 22 characters long. My String (----------------------------------------) is 22 characters long. My String ( --------------------) is 22 characters long. My String (----------------------------------------) is 22 characters long. -- Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=50851&edit=1 -- Try a snapshot (PHP 5.2): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=trysnapshot52 Try a snapshot (PHP 5.3): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=trysnapshot53 Try a snapshot (PHP 6.0): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=trysnapshot60 Fixed in SVN: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=fixed Fixed in SVN and need be documented: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=needdocs Fixed in release: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=needscript Try newer version: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=oldversion Not developer issue: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=support Expected behavior: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=notwrong Not enough info: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=submittedtwice register_globals: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=globals PHP 4 support discontinued: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=php4 Daylight Savings: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=dst IIS Stability: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=gnused Floating point limitations: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=float No Zend Extensions: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=50851&r=mysqlcfg