va_start(ap, fmt); while (*fmt) switch (*fmt++) { case 's': /* string */ s = va_arg(ap, char *); printf("string %s\n", s); break; case 'd': /* int */ d = va_arg(ap, int); printf("int %d\n", d); break; case 'c': /* char */ /* need a cast here since va_arg only takes fully promoted types */ c = (char) va_arg(ap, int); printf("char %c\n", c); break; } va_end(ap); }