MATLAB Programming

2 Data Types
Note You can specify more than one flag in a formatting operator.
Value Identifiers. By default, MATLAB inserts data values from the
argument list into the string in a sequential order. If you have a need to use
the value arguments in a nonsequential order, you can override the default
by using a numeric identifier in each format specifier. Specify nonsequential
arguments with an integer immediately following the % sign, followed by
a $ sign.
Ordered Sequentially
sprintf('%s %s %s', ...
'1st', '2nd', '3rd')
ans =
1st 2nd 3rd
Ordered By Identifier
sprintf('%3$s %2$s %1$s', ...
'1st', '2nd', '3rd')
ans =
3rd 2nd 1st
Setting Field Width and Precision
This section provides further information on the use of the field width and
precision fields of the formatting operator:
• “Effect on the Output String” on page 2-52
• “Specifying Field Width and Precision Outside the format String” on page
2-53
• “Using Identifiers In the Width and Precision Fields” on page 2-54
Effect on the Output String. The figure below illustrates the way in
which the field width and precision settings affect the output of the string
formatting functions. In this figure, the zero following the % sign in the
formatting operator means to add leading zeros to the output string rather
than space characters:
2-52