printf(1)

     NAME
          printf - format and print data

     SYNOPSIS
          printf format [argument...]
          printf {--help,--version}

     DESCRIPTION
          This documentation is no longer being maintained and may be
          inaccurate or incomplete.  The Texinfo documentation is now
          the authoritative source.

          This manual page documents the GNU version of printf.
          printf prints the format string, interpreting `%' directives
          and `\' escapes in the same way as the C `printf' function.
          The format argument is re-used as many times as necessary to
          convert all of the given arguments.

          printf interprets `\0ooo' as a an octal number (`ooo' is 0
          to 3 digits) specifying a character to print, and `\xhhh' as
          a hexadecimal number (`hhh' is 1 to 3 digits) specifying a
          character to print.  It has an additional escape, `\c',
          which causes printf to produce no further output, and an
          additional directive, `%b', which prints its argument string
          with `\' escapes interpreted the way they are in the format
          string.

        OPTIONS
          When GNU printf is invoked with exactly one argument, the
          following options are recognized:

          --help
               Print a usage message on standard output and exit
               successfully.

          --version
               Print version information on standard output then exit
               successfully.