printf/sprintf (was regular expression functions)
| From: | Zak Greant | Date: | Sat, 02 Sep 2000 07:59:19 +0000 |
| Subject: | printf/sprintf (was regular expression functions) | ||
| References: | 1 | Groups: | php.windows |
| Request: | Send a blank email to php-windows+get-2387@lists.php.net to get a copy of this message | ||
pigfai wrote:
> Why we use the printf( ) and sprintf( ) to display
something instead of
> using echo sometimes? What is the usefulness?
This is hard to explain :)
printf and sprintf give you much more control over how the
text that you are outputting is formatted.
Using them, you can convert from one number base to another,
force the decimal precision of a number, right or left pad a
string with spaces, etc...
For example:
# Convert decimal number to hex
$number = 12;
printf ('I was a decimal number of %d, but now I am the hex
number %X', $number, $number);
# Left pad a string with 40 . (minus the length of the
string)
printf ("%s%'.40s", $column_name, $value);
Read the manual entries on sprintf and printf very
carefully, then play around with them. :)
Good Luck!
- Zak