NAME

       printf - format and print data

SYNOPSIS

       printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT]...
       printf OPTION

DESCRIPTION

       Print ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT, or execute according to OPTION:

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
              output version information and exit

       FORMAT controls the output as in C printf.  Interpreted sequences are:

       \"     double quote

       \\     backslash

       \a     alert (BEL)

       \b     backspace

       \c     produce no further output

       \e     escape

       \f     form feed

       \n     new line

       \r     carriage return

       \t     horizontal tab

       \v     vertical tab

       \NNN   byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits)

       \xHH   byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits)

       \uHHHH Unicode (ISO/IEC 10646) character with hex value HHHH (4 digits)

       \UHHHHHHHH
              Unicode character with hex value HHHHHHHH (8 digits)

       %%     a single %

       %b     ARGUMENT as a string with '\' escapes interpreted, except that octal escapes should have a leading
              0 like \0NNN

       %q     ARGUMENT  is  printed  in  a  format  that  can  be  reused as shell input, escaping non-printable
              characters with the POSIX $'' syntax

       and all C format specifications ending with one of diouxXfeEgGcs, with ARGUMENTs converted to proper type
       first.  Variable widths are handled.

       Your shell may have its own version of printf, which  usually  supersedes  the  version  described  here.
       Please refer to your shell's documentation for details about the options it supports.

AUTHOR

       Written by David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS

       GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

SEE ALSO

       printf(3)

       Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/printf>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) printf invocation'

       Packaged by Ubuntu (9.7-3ubuntu1)
       Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

GNU coreutils 9.7                                 October 2025                                         PRINTF(1)