Re: [PATCH v4 1/2] tools/nolibc: support left alignment (-) in printf

[David Laight <david.laight.linux@gmail.com>]

On Fri, 30 Jan 2026 18:22:17 +0800
"licheng.li" <im.lechain@gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Cheng Li <im.lechain@gmail.com>
> 
> Currently, __nolibc_printf() in nolibc parses the width field but always
> pads with spaces on the left. It ignores the '-' flag (left alignment).
> 
> This patch implements support for the '-' flag
> to forces left alignment by padding spaces on the right.
> 
> Logic behavior:
>  - "%5d"  -> "   -5" (unchanged, right align)
>  - "%-5d" -> "-5   " (new, left align)
> 
> Suggested-by: David Laight <david.laight.linux@gmail.com>
> Suggested-by: Willy Tarreau <w@1wt.eu>
> Signed-off-by: Cheng Li <im.lechain@gmail.com>

Looks reasonable.

Reviewed-by: David Laight <david.laight.linux@gmail.com>

	David

> ---
> v4 changes:
>  - Adopted optimization suggestions from David Laight
> v3 changes:
>  - Removed pad zeros support because of bug for signed number and pointer
> v2 changes:
>  - Adopted optimization suggestions from Willy Tarreau:
>    - Incremented 'written' counter at the start of loops.
>    - Reordered loop checks to optimize compiler register usage.
>  - Updated commit message to explicitly mention zero-padding ('0') support.
> ---
>  tools/include/nolibc/stdio.h | 17 +++++++++++++----
>  1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/tools/include/nolibc/stdio.h b/tools/include/nolibc/stdio.h
> index 1f16dab2ac88..1197928a1364 100644
> --- a/tools/include/nolibc/stdio.h
> +++ b/tools/include/nolibc/stdio.h
> @@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ typedef int (*__nolibc_printf_cb)(intptr_t state, const char *buf, size_t size);
>  static __attribute__((unused, format(printf, 4, 0)))
>  int __nolibc_printf(__nolibc_printf_cb cb, intptr_t state, size_t n, const char *fmt, va_list args)
>  {
> -	char escape, lpref, c;
> +	char escape, lpref, padc, c;
>  	unsigned long long v;
>  	unsigned int written, width;
>  	size_t len, ofs, w;
> @@ -261,11 +261,17 @@ int __nolibc_printf(__nolibc_printf_cb cb, intptr_t state, size_t n, const char
>  	while (1) {
>  		c = fmt[ofs++];
>  		width = 0;
> +		padc = ' ';
>  
>  		if (escape) {
>  			/* we're in an escape sequence, ofs == 1 */
>  			escape = 0;
>  
> +			if (c == '-') {
> +				padc = c;
> +				c = fmt[ofs++];
> +			}
> +
>  			/* width */
>  			while (c >= '0' && c <= '9') {
>  				width *= 10;
> @@ -358,12 +364,15 @@ int __nolibc_printf(__nolibc_printf_cb cb, intptr_t state, size_t n, const char
>  			if (n) {
>  				w = len < n ? len : n;
>  				n -= w;
> -				while (width-- > w) {
> +				if (padc == '-' && cb(state, outstr, w) != 0)
> +					return -1;
> +				while (width > w) {
> +					written++;
>  					if (cb(state, " ", 1) != 0)
>  						return -1;
> -					written += 1;
> +					width--;
>  				}
> -				if (cb(state, outstr, w) != 0)
> +				if (padc != '-' && cb(state, outstr, w) != 0)
>  					return -1;
>  			}
>