C stdio sprintf() Function
Example
Write a formatted string into a char array:
char destination[50];
sprintf(destination, "Hello %s!", "World");
printf("%s", destination);
Try it Yourself »
Definition and Usage
The sprintf() function writes a formatted string followed by a \0 null terminating character into a char array.
The sprintf() function is defined in the <stdio.h> header file.
The format string can contain format specifiers which describe where and how to represent additional arguments that are passed into the function. Details about format specifiers can be found on the printf() reference page.
Note: This function does not take into account the size of the array. If you write too many characters it may begin overwriting memory which belongs to other variables or other programs. A safe alternative to this function is the snprintf() function.
Syntax
sprintf(char * destination, const char * format, arg1, arg2...);Parameter Values
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| destination |
Required. A char array to which the formatted string is written.
|
| format | Required. A string representing the format of the data to be written to the array. |
| arg1, arg2... | Optional. Any number of additional arguments, their values can be formatted and written to the destination array using the specifiers in the format argument. |
Technical Details
| Returns: | An int value representing the number of characters that were written to the array (excluding the null terminating character). If an error occurred then it returns a negative number. |
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