MATLAB Programming

2 Data Types
• “Setting Field Width and Precision” on page 2-52
• “Restrictions for Using Identifiers” on page 2-55
Note The examples in this section of the documentation use only the sprintf
function to demonstrate how string formatting works. However, you can run
the examples using the fprintf, warning, anderror functionsaswell.
The Format String
The first input argument in the sprintf statement shown above is the format
string:
'The price of %s on %d/%d/%d was $%.2f.'
The string argument can include ordinary text, formatting operators and, in
some cases, special characters. The formatting operators for this particular
string are: %s, %d, %d, %d, and%.2f.
Following the string argument are five additional input arguments, one for
each of the formatting operators in the string:
'bread', 7, 1, 2006, 2.49
When MATLAB processes the format string, it replaces each operator with
one of these input values.
Special Characters. Special characters are a part of the text in the string.
But, because they cannot be entered as ordinary text, they require a unique
character sequence to represent them. Use any of the following character
sequences to insert special characters into the output string.
To Insert . . . Use . . .
Backspace \b
Form feed \f
New line \n
Carriage return \r
2-44