Hi all, I wonder if you can help me to understand this. I came across the following code:

@Override
   public String toString()
   {
      return String.format( "hourly employee: %s\n%s: $%,.2f; %s: %,.2f", 
         super.toString(), "hourly wage", getWage(), 
         "hours worked", getHours() );
   } // end method toString

I have some problems with the various colons and semicolons inside the String.format method, here return String.format( "hourly employee: %s\n%s: $%,.2f; %s: %,.2f". What are they? I dont' think they are flags or format specifiers are they? Are they just literals?
I have done a bit of reading about the subject but I haven't found that much on the book I am reading, so I thought I'd ask. Now, the semicolons and colons get printed, but is there a general rule as to what they are, how they work and where they go?
thanks

They're simple literals. Just like the "h", "o", "u" etc at the start of the string. Anythingthat's not part of a "format specifier" is"fixed text" (ie a literal).
See the API doc for the Formatter class for complete detailed descriptions of all the format string options.

ah ok thanks for clarifying that! Ah, of course, I didn't think about looking in the api!
cheers

If that's it then please mark this "solved" for our knowledge base.
Thanks
J

sorry, I forgot to make it solved!

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