%n in scanf() in C with Example
Last Updated :
19 Aug, 2020
In C, %n is a special format specifier. In the case of printf() function the %n assign the number of characters printed by printf(). When we use the %n specifier in scanf() it will assign the number of characters read by the scanf() function until it occurs.
Key points:
- It is an edit conversion code.
- The edit conversion code %[^\n] can be used as an alternative of gets.
- C supports this format specification with a scanf() function.
- This edit conversion code can be used to read a line containing characters like variables and even white spaces.
- In general scanf() function with format specification like %s and specification with the field width in the form of %ws can read-only strings till non-white space part.
- It means they cannot be used for reading a text containing more than one word, especially with white space.
Syntax:
scanf("%[^\n]", variable_name);
Below is the program to demonstrate the working of %n in scanf():
C
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int check;
int a, b;
scanf ( "%d%d%n" , &a, &b, &check);
printf ( "%d\n%d\n%d" , a, b, check);
return 0;
}
|
Input:
Below is the input to the above code:
Output:
Below is the output to the above code:
Explanation:
scanf() function assigns the 10 and 20 in a and b respectively and 5 in variable check because there are 5 characters read by scanf function(including spaces).
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