In C, `sprintf()`, or **string print formatted**, is used to store formatted data to a string.

# Syntax
The general syntax of `sprintf()` is: 

int sprintf (char *str, const char *format.. );

## Parameters

* **`str`:** Pointer to the array where the string is to be stored

* **`format`:** This contains the data to be printed, written in a particular format using _format specifiers_ 

A **format specifier** is a unique set of characters which is used to format the data being read in a certain way.

The format specifier follows the following prototype:

``` css
 %[flags][width][.precision][length]specifier
```


## Return Value
If the function successfully executes, it returns the total number of characters stored in the string, excluding the null character at the end of the string. 

If an error occurs, a negative number is returned.

# Example
The following example will help clarify the use of the `sprintf()` function:


Suppose we wish to store values of different data types in a string. We will proceed as follows:

#include<stdio.h>

int main() {
  
  char string[100] = {'\0'};
  char str[10] = "Today is ";
  int date = 1;
  float time = 3.9339f;
  printf("String before using sprintf():  %s \n", string); // empty string
  sprintf(string, "%s %d %f", str, date, time );
  printf("String after using sprintf(): %s", string); // modified string
  return 0;
}

Storing formatted data using sprintf( ) in C

Stores formatted data to a string, returns the number of characters stored, or a negative on error.