JavaScript equivalent to printf/String.Format

Question

I'm looking for a good JavaScript equivalent of the C/PHP printf() or for C#/Java programmers, String.Format() (IFormatProvider for .NET).

My basic requirement is a thousand separator format for numbers for now, but something that handles lots of combinations (including dates) would be good.

I realize Microsoft's Ajax library provides a version of String.Format(), but we don't want the entire overhead of that framework.

Answer 1

Building on the previously suggested solutions:

// First, checks if it isn't implemented yet.
if (!String.prototype.format) {
  String.prototype.format = function() {
    var args = arguments;
    return this.replace(/{(\d+)}/g, function(match, number) { 
      return typeof args[number] != 'undefined'
        ? args[number]
        : match
      ;
    });
  };
}

"{0} is dead, but {1} is alive! {0} {2}".format("ASP", "ASP.NET")

outputs

ASP is dead, but ASP.NET is alive! ASP {2}

---

If you prefer not to modify String's prototype:

if (!String.format) {
  String.format = function(format) {
    var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 1);
    return format.replace(/{(\d+)}/g, function(match, number) { 
      return typeof args[number] != 'undefined'
        ? args[number] 
        : match
      ;
    });
  };
}

Gives you the much more familiar:

String.format('{0} is dead, but {1} is alive! {0} {2}', 'ASP', 'ASP.NET');

with the same result:

ASP is dead, but ASP.NET is alive! ASP {2}

Answer 2

One very slightly different version, the one I prefer (this one uses {xxx} tokens rather than {0} numbered arguments, this is much more self-documenting and suits localization much better):

String.prototype.format = function(tokens) {
  var formatted = this;
  for (var token in tokens)
    if (tokens.hasOwnProperty(token))
      formatted = formatted.replace(RegExp("{" + token + "}", "g"), tokens[token]);
  return formatted;
};

A variation would be:

  var formatted = l(this);

that calls an l() localization function first.

Answer 3

Here's a minimal implementation of sprintf in JavaScript: it only does "%s" and "%d", but I have left space for it to be extended. It is useless to the OP, but other people who stumble across this thread coming from Google might benefit from it.

function sprintf() {
    var args = arguments,
    string = args[0],
    i = 1;
    return string.replace(/%((%)|s|d)/g, function (m) {
        // m is the matched format, e.g. %s, %d
        var val = null;
        if (m[2]) {
            val = m[2];
        } else {
            val = args[i];
            // A switch statement so that the formatter can be extended. Default is %s
            switch (m) {
                case '%d':
                    val = parseFloat(val);
                    if (isNaN(val)) {
                        val = 0;
                    }
                    break;
            }
            i++;
        }
        return val;
    });
}

Example:

alert(sprintf('Latitude: %s, Longitude: %s, Count: %d', 41.847, -87.661, 'two'));
// Expected output: Latitude: 41.847, Longitude: -87.661, Count: 0

In contrast with similar solutions in previous replies, this one does all substitutions in one go, so it will not replace parts of previously replaced values.

Answer 4

Adding to zippoxer's answer, I use this function:

String.prototype.format = function () {
    var a = this, b;
    for (b in arguments) {
        a = a.replace(/%[a-z]/, arguments[b]);
    }
    return a; // Make chainable
};

var s = 'Hello %s The magic number is %d.';
s.format('world!', 12); // Hello World! The magic number is 12.

I also have a non-prototype version which I use more often for its Java-like syntax:

function format() {
    var a, b, c;
    a = arguments[0];
    b = [];
    for(c = 1; c < arguments.length; c++){
        b.push(arguments[c]);
    }
    for (c in b) {
        a = a.replace(/%[a-z]/, b[c]);
    }
    return a;
}
format('%d ducks, 55 %s', 12, 'cats'); // 12 ducks, 55 cats

ES 2015 update

All the cool new stuff in ES 2015 makes this a lot easier:

function format(fmt, ...args){
    return fmt
        .split("%%")
        .reduce((aggregate, chunk, i) =>
            aggregate + chunk + (args[i] || ""), "");
}

format("Hello %%! I ate %% apples today.", "World", 44);
// "Hello World, I ate 44 apples today."

I figured that since this, like the older ones, doesn't actually parse the letters, it might as well just use a single token %%. This has the benefit of being obvious and not making it difficult to use a single %. However, if you need %% for some reason, you would need to replace it with itself:

format("I love percentage signs! %%", "%%");
// "I love percentage signs! %%"

Answer 5

/**
 * Format string by replacing placeholders with value from element with
 * corresponsing index in `replacementArray`.
 * Replaces are made simultaneously, so that replacement values like
 * '{1}' will not mess up the function.
 *
 * Example 1:
 * ('{2} {1} {0}', ['three', 'two' ,'one']) -> 'one two three'
 *
 * Example 2:
 * ('{0}{1}', ['{1}', '{0}']) -> '{1}{0}'
 */
function stringFormat(formatString, replacementArray) {
    return formatString.replace(
        /\{(\d+)\}/g, // Matches placeholders, e.g. '{1}'
        function formatStringReplacer(match, placeholderIndex) {
            // Convert String to Number
            placeholderIndex = Number(placeholderIndex);

            // Make sure that index is within replacement array bounds
            if (placeholderIndex < 0 ||
                placeholderIndex > replacementArray.length - 1
            ) {
                return placeholderIndex;
            }

            // Replace placeholder with value from replacement array
            return replacementArray[placeholderIndex];
        }
    );
}

Answer 6

I use a small library called String.format for JavaScript which supports most of the format string capabilities (including format of numbers and dates), and uses the .NET syntax. The script itself is smaller than 4 kB, so it doesn't create much of overhead.