

   EEnnccooddee iinn aa CCoommmmoonn FFoorrmmaatt

        format(x, ...)
        format.default(x, trim=FALSE, digits = .Options$digits)

   AArrgguummeennttss::

          x: any object (conceptually); typically numeric.

       trim: logical; if `TRUE', leading blanks are trimmed off
             the strings.

     digits: how many significant digits are to be used for
             `numeric x'.

   DDeessccrriippttiioonn::

        This function converts its first argument to a vector
        of character strings, which have a common format (as is
        done by `print').  The trimming with `trim = TRUE' is
        useful when the strings are to be used for plot axis
        annotation.

        The function `formatC' provides a rather more flexible
        formatting facility for numbers.

   SSeeee AAllssoo::

        `formatC', `paste', `as.character'.

   EExxaammpplleess::

        format(1:10)
        for(i in c(1:5,10,15:17,20)) cat(i,":",format(pi,digits=i),"\n")

