macOS what does printf("%2d",x) mean

[dukebound85]

i know what everything in the function does except for the 2. what exactly does the 2 do when printing the integer to the screen?
i know with a float, it contols the decimal places but with an integer i have no idea

or a 3? i have seen %3d as well while i am studying for my exam tomorrow


thanks!

 

[balamw]

man printf

An optional decimal digit string specifying a minimum field width.
If the converted value has fewer characters than the field width, it
will be padded with spaces on the left (or right, if the left-adjust-
ment flag has been given) to fill out the field width.

B

 

[Sayer]

     example% printf "%5d%4d\n" 1 21 321 4321 54321

     produces:

         1  21
       3214321
     54321   0

 

[bbarnhart]

"Minimum number of characters to be printed. If the value to be printed is shorter than this number the result is padded with blanks. The value is never truncated even if the result is larger."

http://www.cplusplus.com/ref/cstdio/printf.html