fprintf

(PHP 5, PHP 7)

fprintfWrite a formatted string to a stream

Description

fprintf ( resource $handle , string $format [, mixed $... ] ) : int

Write a string produced according to format to the stream resource specified by handle.

Parameters

handle

A file system pointer resource that is typically created using fopen().

format

The format string is composed of zero or more directives: ordinary characters (excluding %) that are copied directly to the result and conversion specifications, each of which results in fetching its own parameter.

A conversion specification follows this prototype: %[flags][width][.precision]specifier.

Flags
Flag Description
- Left-justify within the given field width; Right justification is the default
+ Prefix positive numbers with a plus sign +; Default only negative are prefixed with a negative sign.
(space) Pads the result with spaces. This is the default.
0 Only left-pads numbers with zeros. With s specifiers this can also right-pad with zeros.
'(char) Pads the result with the character (char).

Width

An integer that says how many characters (minimum) this conversion should result in.

Precision

A period . followed by an integer who's meaning depends on the specifier:

  • For e, E, f and F specifiers: this is the number of digits to be printed after the decimal point (by default, this is 6).
  • For g and G specifiers: this is the maximum number of significant digits to be printed.
  • For s specifier: it acts as a cutoff point, setting a maximum character limit to the string.

Note: If the period is specified without an explicit value for precision, 0 is assumed.

Note: Attempting to use a position specifier greater than PHP_INT_MAX will generate warnings.

Specifiers
Specifier Description
% A literal percent character. No argument is required.
b The argument is treated as an integer and presented as a binary number.
c The argument is treated as an integer and presented as the character with that ASCII.
d The argument is treated as an integer and presented as a (signed) decimal number.
e The argument is treated as scientific notation (e.g. 1.2e+2). The precision specifier stands for the number of digits after the decimal point since PHP 5.2.1. In earlier versions, it was taken as number of significant digits (one less).
E Like the e specifier but uses uppercase letter (e.g. 1.2E+2).
f The argument is treated as a float and presented as a floating-point number (locale aware).
F The argument is treated as a float and presented as a floating-point number (non-locale aware). Available as of PHP 5.0.3.
g

General format.

Let P equal the precision if nonzero, 6 if the precision is omitted, or 1 if the precision is zero. Then, if a conversion with style E would have an exponent of X:

If P > X ≥ −4, the conversion is with style f and precision P − (X + 1). Otherwise, the conversion is with style e and precision P − 1.

G Like the g specifier but uses E and F.
o The argument is treated as an integer and presented as an octal number.
s The argument is treated and presented as a string.
u The argument is treated as an integer and presented as an unsigned decimal number.
x The argument is treated as an integer and presented as a hexadecimal number (with lowercase letters).
X The argument is treated as an integer and presented as a hexadecimal number (with uppercase letters).

Warning

The c type specifier ignores padding and width

Warning

Attempting to use a combination of the string and width specifiers with character sets that require more than one byte per character may result in unexpected results

Variables will be co-erced to a suitable type for the specifier:

Type Handling
Type Specifiers
string s
integer d, u, c, o, x, X, b
double g, G, e, E, f, F

...

Return Values

Returns the length of the string written.

Examples

Example #1 fprintf(): zero-padded integers

<?php
if (!($fp fopen('date.txt''w'))) {
    return;
}

fprintf($fp"%04d-%02d-%02d"$year$month$day);
// will write the formatted ISO date to date.txt
?>

Example #2 fprintf(): formatting currency

<?php
if (!($fp fopen('currency.txt''w'))) {
    return;
}

$money1 68.75;
$money2 54.35;
$money $money1 $money2;
// echo $money will output "123.1";
$len fprintf($fp'%01.2f'$money);
// will write "123.10" to currency.txt

echo "wrote $len bytes to currency.txt";
// use the return value of fprintf to determine how many bytes we wrote
?>

See Also