Formatter Argument Index in Java

Description

The following code shows how to formatter Argument Index.

Normally, format specifiers and arguments are matched in order, from left to right.

However, by using an argument index you can explicitly control which argument a format specifier matches.

An argument index immediately follows the % in a format specifier: n$, where n is the index of the desired argument, beginning with 1.

Example

//from   w  ww.j ava2 s .  co m
import java.util.Formatter;

public class Main {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    Formatter fmt = new Formatter();

    fmt.format("%3$d %1$d %2$d", 10, 20, 30);
    System.out.println(fmt);

  }
}

The code above generates the following result.