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cstring-formatting

How to format a float number to the right in C?

I'd like to print a float number with only 2 decimal places and align it to the right in a 6 characters space.

I tried to do this, but didn't work:

printf("%6.2f", value);
Solution

  • What you've posted will fit the whole float into a 6 char wide column with the .xx taking up the last 3. If you want the integer portion in a six char wide column with the '.' and the fractional portion after these 6 characters, its %9.2f. Quick example program to show the differences

    #include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {
  float x = 83.4;
  printf("....|....|....|\n");
  printf("%6.2f\n", x); // prints " 83.40"
  printf("%9.2f\n", x); // prints "    83.40"

  return 0;
}

    And the output:

    ....|....|....|
 83.40
    83.40