Bug in sprintf?

[Hal Fulton]

For that conversion, #to_i could have been used as well, and then '09' would
be interpreted as decimal 9. Why should I expect my string to be passed
through Integer() before formatting? That is not documented.

Why would you pass a string to something that expects a number
anyway?


Hal

 

[Hal Fulton]

Why would you pass a string to something that expects a number
anyway?

Actually, let me say this, as it's more informative and
constructive.

If you need to convert your string to a number, it's best
to do so explicitly. (If you really want to pass a string
into sprintf, %s is the correct modifier.)

Also note that while Integer() doesn't convert the way
you want, to_i does:

Integer("09") # error
"09".to_i # 9


Cheers,
Hal

 

[Austin Ziegler]

BTW who is talking about sprintf I am talking about "%" a very rubish
construct.

These are equivalent:

sprintf("%02d", 3)
"%02d" % 3

-austin

 

[Hal Fulton]

Hal
all you are saying is true BUT
I do not think we should blame C for something which really is not nice.
I know not many share my opinion but the brave speaks out nevertheless

IMHO the interpreter should raise an expression when a String is passed to
%d (as you asked OP rightfully not to do so).
Early Failure, please, *early*.

I see your point. Truthfully, I think automatic conversion of a
string in this case is probably a bad idea. And that is a Ruby
issue, not a C one.

BTW who is talking about sprintf I am talking about "%" a very rubish
construct.

But format % array behaves the same as sprintf(format,*array)

The specifiers are the same (and the same as C, perhaps with a few
minor differences).


Hal