The current wording says that given printf a b c d a is the format, c and d are processed as noted, but b is unspecified Signed-off-by: Ahelenia ZiemiaƄska --- That's a fair cop, considering the manual already abuses Ar arguments as Ar argument and arguments. Please consider the following updated patch, which calls the arguments consumed by conversions "value"s. src/dash.1 | 29 +++++++++++++---------------- 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-) diff --git a/src/dash.1 b/src/dash.1 index ff02237..310f34e 100644 --- a/src/dash.1 +++ b/src/dash.1 @@ -1528,30 +1528,26 @@ With the option specified the output will be formatted suitably for non-interactive use. .\".Pp .It Xo printf Ar format -.Op Ar arguments ... +.Oo Ar value Oc Ns ... .Xc .Ic printf -formats and prints its arguments, after the first, under control -of the -.Ar format . -The -.Ar format -is a character string which contains three types of objects: plain characters, +formats and prints its arguments according to +.Ar format , +a character string which contains three types of objects: plain characters, which are simply copied to standard output, character escape sequences which are converted and copied to the standard output, and format specifications, each of which causes printing of the next successive -.Ar argument . +.Ar value . .Pp -The -.Ar arguments -after the first are treated as strings if the corresponding format is +Each +.Ar value +is treated as a string if the corresponding format specification is either .Cm b , -.Cm c +.Cm c , or .Cm s ; -otherwise it is evaluated as a C constant, with the following extensions: -.Pp +otherwise it is evaluated as a C constant, with the following additions: .Bl -bullet -offset indent -compact .It A leading plus or minus sign is allowed. @@ -1561,8 +1557,9 @@ If the leading character is a single or double quote, the value is the code of the next character. .El .Pp -The format string is reused as often as necessary to satisfy the -.Ar arguments . +The format string is reused as often as necessary until all +.Ar value Ns s +are consumed. Any extra format specifications are evaluated with zero or the null string. .Pp -- 2.30.2