sprintf equivalent for xtend

Question

Is it possible to format strings in xtend? I am looking for something just like sprintf in C.

I tried using the String.format in java but I don't know why it is not available in xtend. Maybe, they have something similar?

Answer 1

You can create nicely formatted strings (including line breaks, etc.) using the XPand language inline in XText, thus:

val myVar = 'Hello, world!'
println('''This is a string referring to a variable: «myVar».

It will print out «myVar?.length ?: 0» characters, as the 
variable «IF myVar == null»is«ELSE»is not«ENDIF» null.''')

If you need access to Java's String.format function, remember that static members are access using a double-colon, thus:

val formatted = String::format("Value: %1$.2f", 3.142)