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PRINTF(1)			  User Commands 		       PRINTF(1)

NAME
     printf - format and print data

SYNOPSIS
     printf FORMAT [ARGUMENT]...
     printf OPTION

DESCRIPTION
     Print ARGUMENT(s) according to FORMAT, or execute according to OPTION:

     --help
	    display this help and exit

     --version
	    output version information and exit

     FORMAT controls the output as in C printf.  Interpreted sequences are:

     \"     double quote

     \\     backslash

     \a     alert (BEL)

     \b     backspace

     \c     produce no further output

     \e     escape

     \f     form feed

     \n     new line

     \r     carriage return

     \t     horizontal tab

     \v     vertical tab

     \NNN   byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits)

     \xHH   byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits)

     \uHHHH
	    Unicode (ISO/IEC 10646) character with hex value HHHH (4 digits)

     \UHHHHHHHH
	    Unicode character with hex value HHHHHHHH (8 digits)

     %%     a single %

     %b     ARGUMENT as a string with '\' escapes interpreted, except that octal
	    escapes should have a leading 0 like \0NNN

     %q     ARGUMENT  is  printed in a format that can be reused as shell input,
	    escaping non-printable characters with the POSIX $'' syntax

     and all C format specifications ending with one of diouxXfeEgGcs, with  AR-
     GUMENTs converted to proper type first.  Variable widths are handled.

     Your shell may have its own version of printf, which usually supersedes the
     version described here.  Please refer to your shell's documentation for de-
     tails about the options it supports.

AUTHOR
     Written by David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS
     Report bugs to: bug-coreutils@gnu.org
     GNU coreutils home page: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
     General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
     Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
     Copyright	(C) 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU GPL
     version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
     This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute  it.   There
     is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
     printf(3)

     Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/printf>
     or available locally via: info '(coreutils) printf invocation'

GNU coreutils 9.9		  November 2025 		       PRINTF(1)

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