sprintf() Function for String Formatting

Build a formatted string

sprintf() returns a formatted string without printing it. Use placeholders that match the data type you want to format.

$name = 'Ravi';
$score = 92;
$message = sprintf('%s scored %d', $name, $score);
echo $message;

The PHP sprintf() function is used to format a string according to a specified format. It returns a formatted string, allowing you to customize how variables are displayed, such as formatting numbers, padding strings, and more.

Syntax

string sprintf ( string $format [, mixed $values ] )

$format: A string specifying how to format the values.
...$values: One or more values corresponding to the placeholders.
Return Value: A formatted string based on the input.

Basic Example of sprintf()

Here’s a simple example where we format a string with a name and a score:

$name = "John";
$score = 90;
echo sprintf("Student %s scored %d points", $name, $score);

Output:

Student John scored 90 points

Formatting Decimal Numbers

This example demonstrates how to format a floating-point number to two decimal places:

$price = 123.456;
echo sprintf("The price is %.2f", $price);

Output:

The price is 123.46

Padding Numbers with Leading Zeros

You can pad numbers with leading zeros using sprintf():

$order = 42;
echo sprintf("Order number: %05d", $order);

Output:

Order number: 00042

Truncating Strings

Use sprintf() to limit the output to a specified number of bytes. For UTF-8 text, byte limits may cut through a multibyte character; use a Unicode-aware truncation method when necessary:

$text = "This is a long string";
echo sprintf("%.10s", $text); // Truncate to 10 bytes

Output:

This is a

Formatting with Multiple Data Types

sprintf() can handle multiple data types in a single formatted string:

$age = 25;
$height = 5.8;
echo sprintf("Age: %d, Height: %.1f feet", $age, $height);

Output:

Age: 25, Height: 5.8 feet

Converting to Hexadecimal and Octal

sprintf() can also be used to convert numbers to other bases, such as hexadecimal and octal:

$number = 255;
echo sprintf("Hex: %X, Octal: %o", $number, $number);

Output:

Hex: FF, Octal: 377

PHP sprintf() Format Specifiers

Specifier	Description
%s	String
%d	Integer (signed decimal number)
%f	Floating-point number
%.2f	Floating-point number with 2 decimal places
%05d	Padded integer with leading zeros (5 digits)
%x	Hexadecimal number (lowercase)
%X	Hexadecimal number (uppercase)
%o	Octal number
%c	Character corresponding to an ASCII value
%%	A literal percent sign

Conclusion

The sprintf() function in PHP is a versatile tool for formatting strings. It allows you to handle different data types, format numbers, and control output precision. When placing formatted text into HTML, escape the final string with htmlspecialchars(); formatting is not HTML escaping.
String Functions Remove HTML tags

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

About the author Watch on YouTube

Connect: