Format Specifier Restrictions

There are certain restrictions on which characters cannot be used in a format statement:

  1. A standalone '%' character cannot be used. It can only be used as part of a format specifier.
  2. Although the ',' (comma) and ')' (right bracket) characters can be used in simple format expressions, for example %f:%l:%c which would output /home/forodo/foo.c:23:55 they cannot be used in more complex expressions such as Conditional Formatting or the %R specifier.