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1st chunk of `printf.man`
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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 are of the form \0 or \0NNN

       %q     ARGUMENT is printed in a format that can be reused as  shell  in‐
              put,  escaping  non-printable  characters with the proposed POSIX
              $’’ syntax.

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

       NOTE:  your  shell may have its own version of printf, which usually su‐
       persedes the version described here.  Please refer to your shell’s docu‐
       mentation for details about the options it supports.

AUTHOR
       Written by David MacKenzie.

REPORTING BUGS
       GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2022 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 9.1                 January 2024                        PRINTF(1)
Title: printf - format and print data
Summary
This manual page describes the `printf` command, which formats and prints data according to a specified format string. It details the available options, including `--help` and `--version`, and the various escape sequences and format specifiers that can be used in the FORMAT string, such as \", \\, \a, \b, \c, \e, \f, \n, \r, \t, \v, \NNN, \xHH, \uHHHH, \UHHHHHHHH, %%, %b, %q, and C format specifications. It also notes that shells may have their own versions of `printf` and refers users to the shell's documentation for specific details. The manual page provides information on the author, bug reporting, copyright, and related documentation.