Format Class Functions (SourceMod Scripting) - Revision history

Luki1412: Added FormatEx

2026-03-31T18:49:52Z

Added FormatEx

Psychonic at 13:50, 26 March 2020

2020-03-26T13:50:30Z

Psychonic at 13:24, 26 March 2020

2020-03-26T13:24:31Z

Psychonic at 13:22, 26 March 2020

2020-03-26T13:22:49Z

Disawar1: added exapmle

2018-09-21T13:24:34Z

added exapmle

Shavit: {Handle,Float,_} >> any

2016-07-26T03:07:08Z

{Handle,Float,_} >> any

Miu: /* Making your function Format-Class */

2016-02-07T22:01:37Z

‎Making your function Format-Class

Xerox8521: /* Making your function Format-Class */

2015-12-29T16:31:58Z

‎Making your function Format-Class

Xerox8521: /* Usage */

2015-12-29T16:30:33Z

‎Usage

Xerox8521: /* Introduction */

2015-12-29T16:29:45Z

‎Introduction

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:49, 31 March 2026
Line 104:		Line 104:

	The 4th parameter indicate the "any ..." parameter position in your function prototype.		The 4th parameter indicate the "any ..." parameter position in your function prototype.
		+
		+	=FormatEx=
		+
		+	If you plan to use Format, consider using FormatEx instead as it is slightly faster.
		+	It is the same as Format, except none of the input buffers can overlap the same memory as the output buffer.
		+	So if you do not need to use the input buffer in the output, you should use FormatEx instead of Format.

	[[Category:SourceMod Scripting]]		[[Category:SourceMod Scripting]]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 Format-class functions are variable argument functions in [[SourceMod]] which allow you to format a string.  A simple example of this is the <tt>Format()</tt> function, which looks like:
-<pawn>char buffer[512];
+<sourcepawn>char buffer[512];
-Format(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "Your name is: %s", userName);</pawn>
+Format(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "Your name is: %s", userName);</sourcepawn>
 If userName contains "<tt>Mark</tt>," the contents of <tt>buffer</tt> will then be: "<tt>Your name is: Mark</tt>."  The prototype of these functions almost always contains the following parameters:
-<pawn>const char[] fmt, any ...</pawn>
+<sourcepawn>const char[] fmt, any ...</sourcepawn>
 For example, observe the following two natives:
-<pawn>native void Format(char[] buffer, int maxlength, const char[] fmt, any ...);
+<sourcepawn>native void Format(char[] buffer, int maxlength, const char[] fmt, any ...);
-native void PrintToClient(int client, char[] fmt, any ...);</pawn>
+native void PrintToClient(int client, char[] fmt, any ...);</sourcepawn>
 Thus, <tt>PrintToClient</tt> is a format-class function.  It can be used exactly as shown earlier:
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 =Usage=
 Format specifiers are denoted with a <tt>'%s'</tt> symbol.  For example, to print a float, a number, and a string, you might use this code:
-<pawn>float fNum = 5.0;
+<sourcepawn>float fNum = 5.0;
 int iNum = 5;
 char[] str = "5";
-PrintToClient(client, "Number: %d Float: %f String: %s", iNum, fNum, str);</pawn>
+PrintToClient(client, "Number: %d Float: %f String: %s", iNum, fNum, str);</sourcepawn>
 '''Note''': Using the wrong data type with a specifier can be very dangerous.  Always make sure you are printing as the right type.  For example, specifying a string and passing a number can crash the server.
@@ Line 89: / Line 89: @@
 Here's an example:
-<pawn>public void formatExample(const char[] myString, any ...)
+<sourcepawn>public void formatExample(const char[] myString, any ...)
+{
 	int len = strlen(myString) + 255;
@@ Line 96: / Line 96: @@
 	PrintToServer(myFormattedString);
-}</pawn>
+}</sourcepawn>
 Using the parameter "any ...", we can pass data(s) to format our string.

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 Thus, <tt>PrintToClient</tt> is a format-class function.  It can be used exactly as shown earlier:
-<sourcepawn>PrintToClient(client, "Your name is: %s", userName);</pawn>
+<sourcepawn>PrintToClient(client, "Your name is: %s", userName);</sourcepawn>
 =Format Specifiers=
@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 Example:
-<pawn>
+<sourcepawn>
 PrintToServer("Characters: %c %c", 'a', 65);
 PrintToServer("Decimals: %d", 1977);
@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 PrintToServer("%s %s", "The alphabet:", abc);
 PrintToServer("%s %c", abc[3], abc[3]);
-</pawn>
+</sourcepawn>
 Output:

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 Thus, <tt>PrintToClient</tt> is a format-class function.  It can be used exactly as shown earlier:
-<pawn>PrintToClient(client, "Your name is: %s", userName);</pawn>
+<sourcepawn>PrintToClient(client, "Your name is: %s", userName);</pawn>
 =Format Specifiers=

@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 *'''specifier''': character specifying the data type (always required).
-todo: examples
+Example:
 For more information, see [http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/cstdio/printf.html printf] from the C Standard Library, although not all modes are supported from C.

@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 Sourcemod allows you to make your function Format-class, ie. pass parameters to format string variables.
-Here's an example :
+Here's an example:
-<pawn>public void formatExample(const char[] myString , any ...)
+<pawn>public void formatExample(const char[] myString, any ...)
+{
-	char[] myFormattedString = new char[strlen(myString)+255];
+	int len = strlen(myString) + 255;
-	VFormat(myFormattedString, sizeof(myFormattedString), myString, 2);
+	char[] myFormattedString = new char[len];
 	PrintToServer(myFormattedString);

@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 Here's an example :
-<pawn>public formatExample(const String:myString[] , any:...)
+<pawn>public void formatExample(const char[] myString , any ...)
+{
-	new String:myFormattedString[strlen(myString)+255];
+	char[] myFormattedString = new char[strlen(myString)+255];
 	VFormat(myFormattedString, sizeof(myFormattedString), myString, 2);
@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 }</pawn>
-Using the parameter "any: ...", we can pass data(s) to format our string.
+Using the parameter "any ...", we can pass data(s) to format our string.
-Now, in order to replace the Format Specifiers by our data(s), we use the API "VFormat", which documentation can be found here : [http://docs.sourcemod.net/api/].
+Now, in order to replace the Format Specifiers by our data(s), we use the API "VFormat", which documentation can be found here : [https://sm.alliedmods.net/new-api/].
 The three first parameters passed in VFormat are pretty obvious since they are the as in the Format(..) API.
-The 4th parameter indicate the "any: ..." parameter position in your function prototype.
+The 4th parameter indicate the "any ..." parameter position in your function prototype.
 [[Category:SourceMod Scripting]]