Java5 printf and java.util.UnknownFormatConversionException: Conversion = '

Question

As a long time C/C++ programmer I was pleased to see printf added to Java5, however one of (IMO) the most useful features - using an asterisk in the format string to indicate a fields width modifier is to be taken from the varargs list doesn't appear to work:
Given:
     #include <stdio.h>
     int
     main()
             printf("[%*d]\n", 8, 2);
             return 0;
     }I get:
     [       2]
However, given:
     public class Main
         public static void main(String[] args)
             System.out.printf("[%*d]\n", 8, 2);
     }I get:
     Exception in thread "main" java.util.UnknownFormatConversionException: Conversion = '*'
          at java.util.Formatter.checkText(Formatter.java:2500)
          at java.util.Formatter.parse(Formatter.java:2482)
          at java.util.Formatter.format(Formatter.java:2411)
          at java.io.PrintStream.format(PrintStream.java:899)
          at java.io.PrintStream.printf(PrintStream.java:800)
          at Main.main(Main.java:19)
     Process finished with exit code 1Not at all the same thing.
It fails on Windows and Mac.
The way I read the documentation I believe this should work.
Am I misinterpreting the doc, doing something wrong, or is this a bug?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Thanks, I understand that. What I am referring to is this from the docs:
http://sharkysoft.com/archive/printf/docs/javadocs/lava/clib/stdio/doc-files/specification.htm
1.3.1. variable width
It is possible to specify a variable field width, where one of the arguments in the argument vector is used to determine the field's width. This is indicated in the format string by using an asterisk character ('*') in place of the actual width value. The corresponding value in the argument list must be an int, and must precede the actual argument being formatted.
Example: If the format specifier is "%*hd", then there are two arguments in the argument list corresponding to this format specifier. The first argument is an int, indicating the field width, and the second argument is converted as a signed short.