(format nil "foo") ⇒  "foo"
 (setq x 5) ⇒  5
 (format nil "The answer is ~D." x) ⇒  "The answer is 5."
 (format nil "The answer is ~3D." x) ⇒  "The answer is   5."
 (format nil "The answer is ~3,'0D." x) ⇒  "The answer is 005."
 (format nil "The answer is ~:D." (expt 47 x))
⇒  "The answer is 229,345,007."
 (setq y "elephant") ⇒  "elephant"
 (format nil "Look at the ~A!" y) ⇒  "Look at the elephant!"
 (setq n 3) ⇒  3
 (format nil "~D item~:P found." n) ⇒  "3 items found."
 (format nil "~R dog~:[s are~; is~] here." n (= n 1))
⇒  "three dogs are here."
 (format nil "~R dog~:*~[s are~; is~:;s are~] here." n)
⇒  "three dogs are here."
 (format nil "Here ~[are~;is~:;are~] ~:*~R pupp~:@P." n)
⇒  "Here are three puppies."

 (defun foo (x)
   (format nil "~6,2F|~6,2,1,'*F|~6,2,,'?F|~6F|~,2F|~F"
           x x x x x x)) ⇒  FOO
 (foo 3.14159)  ⇒  "  3.14| 31.42|  3.14|3.1416|3.14|3.14159"
 (foo -3.14159) ⇒  " -3.14|-31.42| -3.14|-3.142|-3.14|-3.14159"
 (foo 100.0)    ⇒  "100.00|******|100.00| 100.0|100.00|100.0"
 (foo 1234.0)   ⇒  "1234.00|******|??????|1234.0|1234.00|1234.0"
 (foo 0.006)    ⇒  "  0.01|  0.06|  0.01| 0.006|0.01|0.006"

 (defun foo (x)  
    (format nil
           "~9,2,1,,'*E|~10,3,2,2,'?,,'$E|~
            ~9,3,2,-2,'
           x x x x))
 (foo 3.14159)  ⇒  "  3.14E+0| 31.42$-01|+.003E+03|  3.14E+0"
 (foo -3.14159) ⇒  " -3.14E+0|-31.42$-01|-.003E+03| -3.14E+0"
 (foo 1100.0)   ⇒  "  1.10E+3| 11.00$+02|+.001E+06|  1.10E+3"
 (foo 1100.0L0) ⇒  "  1.10L+3| 11.00$+02|+.001L+06|  1.10L+3"
 (foo 1.1E13)   ⇒  "*********| 11.00$+12|+.001E+16| 1.10E+13"
 (foo 1.1L120)  ⇒  "*********|??????????|
 (foo 1.1L1200) ⇒  "*********|??????????|

 (dotimes (k 13)
   (format t "~
           (- k 5) (- k 5) 3.14159))

Scale factor -5: | 0.000003E+06|
Scale factor -4: | 0.000031E+05|
Scale factor -3: | 0.000314E+04|
Scale factor -2: | 0.003142E+03|
Scale factor -1: | 0.031416E+02|
Scale factor  0: | 0.314159E+01|
Scale factor  1: | 3.141590E+00|
Scale factor  2: | 31.41590E-01|
Scale factor  3: | 314.1590E-02|
Scale factor  4: | 3141.590E-03|
Scale factor  5: | 31415.90E-04|
Scale factor  6: | 314159.0E-05|
Scale factor  7: | 3141590.E-06|

 (defun foo (x)
   (format nil "~9,2,1,,'*G|~9,3,2,3,'?,,'$G|~9,3,2,0,'
          x x x x))                                     
 (foo 0.0314159) ⇒  "  3.14E-2|314.2$-04|0.314E-01|  3.14E-2"
 (foo 0.314159)  ⇒  "  0.31   |0.314    |0.314    | 0.31    "
 (foo 3.14159)   ⇒  "   3.1   | 3.14    | 3.14    |  3.1    "
 (foo 31.4159)   ⇒  "   31.   | 31.4    | 31.4    |  31.    "
 (foo 314.159)   ⇒  "  3.14E+2| 314.    | 314.    |  3.14E+2"
 (foo 3141.59)   ⇒  "  3.14E+3|314.2$+01|0.314E+04|  3.14E+3"
 (foo 3141.59L0) ⇒  "  3.14L+3|314.2$+01|0.314L+04|  3.14L+3"
 (foo 3.14E12)   ⇒  "*********|314.0$+10|0.314E+13| 3.14E+12"
 (foo 3.14L120)  ⇒  "*********|?????????|
 (foo 3.14L1200) ⇒  "*********|?????????|

 (format nil "~10<foo~;bar~>")   ⇒  "foo    bar"
 (format nil "~10:<foo~;bar~>")  ⇒  "  foo  bar"
 (format nil "~10<foobar~>")     ⇒  "    foobar"
 (format nil "~10:<foobar~>")    ⇒  "    foobar"
 (format nil "~10:@<foo~;bar~>") ⇒  "  foo bar "
 (format nil "~10@<foobar~>")    ⇒  "foobar    "
 (format nil "~10:@<foobar~>")   ⇒  "  foobar  "

  (FORMAT NIL "Written to ~A." #P"foo.bin")
  ⇒  "Written to foo.bin."