[R] "%03d" in the pdf command

[(Ted Harding)]

On 23-Jul-05 Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
> On Sat, 23 Jul 2005, Dennis Fisher wrote:
> 
>> The pdf man page contains the following text:
>>
>>      pdf(file = ifelse(onefile, "Rplots.pdf", "Rplot%03d.pdf"),
>>          width = 6, height = 6, onefile = TRUE, family = "Helvetica",
>>          title = "R Graphics Output", fonts = NULL, version = "1.1",
>>          paper, encoding, bg, fg, pointsize)
>>
>> I am creating multi-page graphics in which each page is saved as a
>> separate file.  If I invoke onefile=T and I include "%03d" in the
>> filename, each page is saved as a separate file.  However, I don't
>> understand the "%03d".  Can someone explain?  Am I calling a register
>> that contains the page number?
> 
> See ?sprintf, or man printf on your system.
> It formats the page number in that C format.

If it's still obscure, the effect of the format string "Rplot%03d.pdf"
is that a string is generated consisting of the characters

  Rplot

followed by

  an integer of width 3 digits (padded to the left with zeros
  if required to make the width equal to 3),

followed by the characters

  d.pdf

where the value to be inserted in place of "%3d" will be derived
from somewhere -- not specified in the command itself but deducible
from "?pdf": If onefile=TRUE then you get all figures in a single
file whose name is "Rplots.pdf", otherwise you get them succesively
in separate files with names

  Rplot001.pdf
  Rplot002.pdf
  Rplot003.pdf
  Rplot004.pdf
  ...
  Rplot998.pdf
  Rplot999.pdf

after which you run out of road.

Hoping this helps,
Ted.


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Date: 23-Jul-05                                       Time: 22:22:15
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