The format argument consists of one or more codes; as in printf, the formatting codes are preceded by a percent sign (%). Characters that do not begin with % are copied unchanged to strDest. The LC_TIME category of the current locale affects the output formatting of strftime.(For more information on LC_TIME, see setlocale.) The formatting codes for strftime are listed below:
%a
Abbreviated weekday name
%A
Full weekday name
%b
Abbreviated month name
%B
Full month name
%c
Date and time representation appropriate for locale
%d
Day of month as decimal number (01 – 31)
%H
Hour in 24-hour format (00 – 23)
%I
Hour in 12-hour format (01 – 12)
%j
Day of year as decimal number (001 – 366)
%m
Month as decimal number (01 – 12)
%M
Minute as decimal number (00 – 59)
%p
Current locale’s A.M./P.M. indicator for 12-hour clock
%S
Second as decimal number (00 – 59)
%U
Week of year as decimal number, with Sunday as first day of week (00 – 53)
%w
Weekday as decimal number (0 – 6; Sunday is 0)
%W
Week of year as decimal number, with Monday as first day of week (00 – 53)
%x
Date representation for current locale
%X
Time representation for current locale
%y
Year without century, as decimal number (00 – 99)
%Y
Year with century, as decimal number
%z, %Z
Time-zone name or abbreviation; no characters if time zone is unknown
%%
Percent sign
As in the printf function, the # flag may prefix any formatting code. In that case, the meaning of the format code is changed as follows.
| Format Code | Meaning |
| %#a, %#A, %#b, %#B, %#p, %#X, %#z, %#Z, %#% | # flag is ignored. |
| %#c | Long date and time representation, appropriate for current locale. For example: “Tuesday, March 14, 1995, 12:41:29”. |
| %#x | Long date representation, appropriate to current locale. For example: “Tuesday, March 14, 1995”. |
| %#d, %#H, %#I, %#j, %#m, %#M, %#S, %#U, %#w, %#W, %#y, %#Y | Remove leading zeros (if any). |