fprintf function question about

fprintf('that will be $ %5.2f ....)

I know .2 mean 2 decimal place, but what is 5 mean here. Thanks.

Answer 1

[Image Analyst]

It means that the field width will be padded so that it will be at least 5 characters, like "12.34" or " 1.23" - Note the last case has a space added. You don't need to use the first number - I never do. Just use '%.2f' and you'll be fine. You only need to use it if you want to print a bunch of things with different sizes and want them to be all aligned. But normally you don't use it.