String Format Function

int printf(const char *format [, argument]...);

int wprintf(const wchar_t *format [, argument]...);

int _tprintf(const TCHAR *format [, argument]...);

Internationalization (I18n) Function Overview

The printf function formats a null-terminated string, using the format argument and the variable data arguments, and outputs it to the stdout stream. The number of characters written is returned, or -1 if an error occurs.

wprintf is the wide character version and returns the number of wide characters written.

_tprintf is the Windows-only Generic version of the function; with the _MBCS or _UNICODE compiler flags determining its mapping to either printf or wprintf.

I18n Issues

Use the appropriate version of the function as required for internationalization support, noting the following:

Prior to calling one of these functions, ensure that the current locale is set properly by calling setlocale, as string formatting is dependent on the LC_NUMERIC locale category. See String Formatting in C and C++ for a discussion on locale-sensitive formatting in internationalized applications.

Recommended Replacements*

ANSI UTF-8	printf
ANSI UTF-16	wprintf
Microsoft Windows MBCS	printf
Microsoft Windows Unicode	wprintf
Microsoft Windows Generic	_tprintf

String Format Functions