String Formatting in Scilab

Our first program will demonstrate string formatting in Scilab. Here’s the full source code:

// Define a structure similar to the 'point' struct in the original example
point = struct('x', 1, 'y', 2);

// Printing various data types and formats
disp('struct1: ' + string(point))
disp('struct2: x:' + string(point.x) + ' y:' + string(point.y))
disp('type: ' + typeof(point))

disp('bool: ' + string(%t))
disp('int: ' + string(123))
disp('bin: ' + dec2bin(14))
disp('char: ' + ascii(33))
disp('hex: ' + string(sprintf('%x', 456)))

disp('float1: ' + string(78.9))
disp(sprintf('float2: %.6e', 123400000.0))
disp(sprintf('float3: %.6E', 123400000.0))

disp('str1: "string"')
disp('str2: ' + """string""")
disp('str3: ' + strcat(sprintf('%x', ascii('hex this'))))

disp('pointer: Scilab does not have direct pointer representation')

// Width formatting
disp(sprintf('width1: |%6d|%6d|', 12, 345))
disp(sprintf('width2: |%6.2f|%6.2f|', 1.2, 3.45))
disp(sprintf('width3: |%-6.2f|%-6.2f|', 1.2, 3.45))
disp(sprintf('width4: |%6s|%6s|', 'foo', 'b'))
disp(sprintf('width5: |%-6s|%-6s|', 'foo', 'b'))

// String formatting
s = sprintf('sprintf: a %s', 'string');
disp(s)

// Writing to standard error
mfprintf(stderr(), 'io: an %s\n', 'error');

Scilab offers various ways to format and print data. Let’s break down the example:

1. We start by creating a structure similar to the point struct in the original example.

2. The disp function is used for basic printing, while sprintf is used for more complex string formatting.

3. Scilab doesn’t have a direct equivalent to Go’s %v, %+v, or %#v verbs, so we manually construct strings to represent the structure.

4. For binary representation, we use the dec2bin function.

5. The ascii function is used to convert between characters and their ASCII values.

6. Hexadecimal formatting is done using sprintf with the %x format specifier.

7. Scientific notation is achieved using sprintf with %e or %E format specifiers.

8. Scilab doesn’t have pointers in the same way as Go, so we can’t demonstrate pointer printing.

9. Width and precision formatting is done using sprintf with various format specifiers.

10. To write to standard error, we use mfprintf with stderr().

To run this program, save it as a .sce file (e.g., string_formatting.sce) and execute it in Scilab:

--> exec('string_formatting.sce', -1)

This will display the formatted output in the Scilab console.

Note that Scilab’s string formatting capabilities are somewhat different from Go’s, but this example demonstrates similar concepts adapted to Scilab’s syntax and functions.