Shouldn't %06s zero-pad a string?

[Beat Bolli]

Jp Calderone wrote:
 > On Thu, Feb 13, 2003 at 11:09:02PM +0100, Beat Bolli wrote:
 >
 >>Jeff Epler wrote:
 >>
 >>>Python generally takes inspiration for the handling of %-formats from
 >>>the C standard.
 >>>
 >>>[Tests snipped]
 >>>
 >>>Here's what my printf manual page says about '0':
 >>>
 >>>      0      The value should be zero padded.  For d, i,  o,  u,
 >>>             x,  X,  a, A, e, E, f, F, g, and G conversions, the
 >>>             converted value is padded on the  left  with  zeros
 >>>             rather  than  blanks.   If  the  0 and - flags both
 >>>             appear, the 0 flag is ignored.  If a  precision  is
 >>>             given with a numeric conversion (d, i, o, u, x, and
 >>>             X), the 0 flag is ignored.  For other  conversions,
 >>>             the behavior is undefined.
 >>>
 >>>so "the behavior is undefined" when the s conversion is used.
 >>>The treatment of 0 as " " (space) seems fairly useful, though.
 >>>
 >>
 >>That's all fine, but the *Python* manual mentions no such limitation.
 >>Wouldn't be simpler to handle all cases consistently?
 >
 >
 >   Simpler for whom?  (Answer this one in your head, please)
Well, for the guy who programs the % function, for one. I'm pretty sure 
that the present behaviour is a special case (too lazy to check the 
sources ATM !-)
On the other hand, for the user of the % function (principle of least 
surprise...).
 >
 >   If all you want is a string padded with zeros, use str.zfill().
Cool. the last time I checked, this wasn't a string method yet!

Beat