FMT(3ast) FMT(3ast)

# [NAME](#NAME)

fmt - string formatting routines

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

```
#include <ast.h>
#include <ls.h>
char*      fmtint(intmax_t number, int unsign);
char*      fmtdev(struct stat* st);
char*      fmtelapsed(unsigned long count, int persec)
char*      fmterror(int errno);
char*      fmtesc(const char* string);
char*      fmtfs(struct stat* st);
char*      fmtgid(int gid);
char*      fmtmatch(const char* re);
char*      fmtmode(int mode, int external);
char*      fmtperm(int perm);
char*      fmtre(const char* pattern);
char*      fmtsignal(int sig);
char*      fmttime(const char* format, time_t tm);
char*      fmtuid(int uid);
```

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

These routines return a pointer to a formatted string for various numeric and string entities. Some routines may cache information to speed up the next call. Most of the routines return a pointer to a private buffer, the contents of which are overwritten on the next call to that routine. Most fmt routines have a corresponding str routine that converts in the other direction. There is nothing spectacular about this collection other than that it provides a single place where the exact format is spelled out.

fmtint is a performance-optimized function for formatting a base-10 integer *number*. If *unsign != 0* then the *number* is treated as unsigned.

fmtdev returns the device handle name specified by the stat structure *st*. This is the device information displayed by *ls -l*.

fmtelapsed formats the elapsed time for *(count/persec)* seconds. The two largest time units are used, limiting the return value length to at most 6 characters. The units are:

[**s**](#s)

seconds

[**m**](#m)

minutes

[**h**](#h)

hours

[**days**](#days)

[**weeks**](#weeks)

[**M**](#M)

months

[**Y**](#Y)

years

[**S**](#S)

scores

fmterror returns the system error message text for the error number *errno*.

fmtesc formats non-ASCII characters in *string* into C-style **\\** sequences. These sequences are understood by chresc and chrtoi.

fmtfs returns the file system type name corresponding to the stat structure *st*.

fmtgid returns the group name for *gid*.

fmtmatch returns the strmatch equivalent pattern for the regular expression pattern *re*. 0 is returned for invalid *re*.

fmtmode returns the *ls -l* mode string for the file mode bits in *mode*. If *external != 0* then *mode* is [*modecanon*(3)](/man/os/ksh/modecanon.3) canonical.

fmtperm returns the *chmod* permission string for the permission bits in *perm*.

fmtre returns the regular expression equivalent pattern for the strmatch pattern *pattern*. 0 is returned for invalid *pattern*.

fmtsignal returns the signal name, sans SIG, for the signal number *sig*. If *sig &lt; 0* then the description text for *-sig* is returned.

fmttime returns the results of *tmfmt(buf,sizeof(buf),format,tm)* in the private buffer *buf*.

fmtuid returns the user name for *uid*.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[modecanon(3)](/man/os/ksh/modecanon.3), [str(3)](/man/os/ksh/str.3)

---

Document: fmt(3ast) from ksh 1.0.10-r37 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/ksh93/ksh