WRITEF - FORMATTED WRITE UTILITY

fwritef(File, Format)

        Formatted write to file.  Equivalent to 'fwritef(File, Format, [])'.

fwritef(File, Format, List)

        Formatted  write  to  File.    Temporarily redirects output to the file
        named by File, but is otherwise like 'writef(Format, List)'.

writef(Format)

        Formatted write.  Equivalent to 'writef(Format, [])'.

writef(Format, List)

        Formatted write.  Format is an atom whose characters  will  be  output.
        Format  may  contain  certain special character sequences which specify
        certain  formatting  actions.    The  following  sequences  result   in
        particular (otherwise hard to use) characters being output.

            '\n'  --  <NL> is output
            '\l'  --  <LF> is output
            '\r'  --  <CR> is output
            '\t'  --  <TAB> is output
            '\e'  --  <ESC> is output
            '\\'  --  The character "\" is output
            '\%'  --  The character "%" is output
            '\nnn' -  where nnn is an integer (1-3 digits)
                      the character with ASCII code nnn is output
                      (NB : nnn is read as DECIMAL)

        The  following  special  sequences specify that items be taken from the
        List and output in some way.  List, then, provides all the actual terms
        that are required to be output, while Format specifies  where  and  how
        this is to occur.

            '%t'  --  output the next item (mnemonic: Term)
            '%w'  --  Write the next item
            '%q'  --  Writeq the next item
            '%d'  --  Display the next item
            '%p'  --  Print the next item (identical to %t)
            '%l'  --  output the next item using prlist
            '%c'  --  output the next item using prconj
            '%e'  --  output the next item using prexpr
            '%n'  --  put the next item as a character (ie it is
                             an iNteger)
            '%r'  --  Repeat the next item N times where N is the
                            second item (an integer)
            '%s'  --  write the next item as a String (so it must
                            be a list of characters)
            '%i'  --  the next item is a format, and the item after that
                            a list.  Apply writef to that format and
                            list (Indirect).  Use for error messages.
            '%j'  --  output a singular/plural indication
            '%f'  --  perform a ttyflush (no items used)

        %l  (prlist)  works  on  lists  [A1,...,An].    %c  (prconj)  works  on
        conjunctions A1&...&An.  They both display A1, ..., An with one element
        per line, preceded by four  spaces.    You  will  probably  want  a  \n
        (newline) in front of %l or %c, but unless you want a blank line in the
        output there is no need for a \n afterwards.

        There is a new set of three special sequences:

            '%Nc' --  write the next item Centered in N columns.
            '%Nl' --  write the next item Left justified in N columns.
            '%Nr' --  write the next item Right justified in N columns.
                      N is a decimal number with at least one digit.
                      The item must be an atom, integer, or string.

        In  each  of  these  cases,  a minimum of N characters will be written.
        Enough spaces will be added around (c), after (l),  or  before  (r)  to
        make the total up to N. If the item is too long, exactly one space will
        be added.

        There  are  two  forms  of %j.  With no number in front of it, it takes
        three arguments N,S,P from the list, and writes S if N =  1  (singular)
        or  P  if  N  =/=  1  (plural).  The test for N=1 is unification, not a
        numeric test, so beware.  With a number in front of it, it  takes  just
        one  argument  from  the  list, and the number indicates the style.  We
        have

            %1j  writes '' for singular, 's' for plural, e.g. 'cup%1j'.
            %2j  writes '' for singular, 'es' for plural, e.g. 'tomato%2j'.
            %3j  writes 'y' for singular, 'ies' for plural, e.g. 'tr%3j'.
            %4j  writes 'fe' for singular, 'ves' for plural, e.g. 'kni%4j'.
            %5j  writes 's' for singular, '' for plural, e.g. 'fight%5j'.
            %6j  writes 'es' for singular, '' for plural, e.g. 'go%6j'.
            %7j  writes 'ies' for singular, 'y' for plural, e.g. 'dr%7j'.
            %8j  writes '' for singular, 'j' for plural.

        The following examples may help to explain the use of writef.

            writef('Hello there\n\n')
            writef('%t is a %t\n',[Person,Property])
            writef('Input : %l \nBecomes : %e\n \7',[In,Out])
            writef('%20l %4r clauses %3r predicates.\n', [File,Ccnt,Pcnt])
            fwritef('demo.for', '\tDO %w I = 1, %w\n', [End,Limit])
            writef('%d tr%3j %j enough.\n', [N,N,N,was,were])