%*c in scanf() - what does it mean?

Question

I tried to run this program in Turbo C but couldn't decipher the output. What does this `%*c` mean? Any help would be appreciated. ``` int dd,mm,yy; printf("
	Enter day,month and year"); scanf("%d %*c %d %*c %d",&dd,&mm,&yy); // what does %*c mean ? printf("
	The date is : %d %d %d",dd,mm,yy); ``` OUTPUT ``` Enter day, month and year 23 2 1991 3 5 The date is: 23 1991 5 ```

Accepted Answer

The `*` in a `scanf()` format means 'read the data but do not assign it to a variable in the argument list'. In context, it means you could type:

```
18/07/2012
```

and get the day (18), month (7) and year (2012) interpreted correctly. The spaces in the format string are crucial and complicate things. Normally, `%c` reads the next character, even a space, but the spaces around the `%*c` conversion specifiers deal with white space, so the code needs a non-blank character to consume.

Hence the observed behaviour that when you typed:

```
23 2 1991 3 5
```

the 2 (on its own) was consumed by the first `%*c` and the 3 (on its own) was consumed by the second.

This is Standard C and not a peculiar feature of Turbo C (which the first edition of the question specified, but the question has been edited to remove the reference to Turbo C since I first wrote this answer).

%*c in scanf() - what does it mean?

Solution

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