- If the precision p is greater than the number of digits f in the fractional part of the
input, then p digits are shown after the decimal point. The fractional part is extended
to the right with p-f zeroes in the output. - If the field width is not specified, then it defaults to p+1+n, where n is the number of
digits in the whole part of the input value. - If the field width w is greater than p+1+n, then the whole part of the output value is
padded to the left with w-(p+1+n) additional characters. The additional characters
are space characters unless the formatting operator includes the 0 flag. In that case,
the additional characters are zeroes.
Specify Field Width and Precision Outside Format Specifier
You can specify the field width and precision using values from a sequential argument list.
Use an asterisk (*) in place of the field width or precision fields of the formatting
operator.
For example, format and display three numbers. In each case, use an asterisk to specify
that the field width or precision come from input arguments that follow the format
specifier.
txt = sprintf('%f %.f %.f',...
15,123.45678,...
3,16.42837,...
6,4,pi)
txt =
' 123.456780 16.428 3.1416'
The table describes the effects of each formatting operator in the example.
Formatting Operator Description
%*f Specify width as the following input
argument, 15.
%.*f Specify precision as the following input
argument, 3.
%*.*f Specify width and precision as the following
input arguments, 6 , and 4.You can mix the two styles. For example, get the field width from the following input
argument and the precision from the format specifier.
Formatting Text