[C] printf format become string in c

You can escape it by posting a double ‘%’ like this: %%

void main()
{

    int i = 0;
    int colon = 0;
    char tmp1[512] = {0};
    char tmp[512] = {0};
    char IP6Address[] = "2001:1::3001";

    while(IP6Address[i])
    {
        printf("IP6Address[%d] = %c \t",i,IP6Address[i]);
        if ((IP6Address[i] == ':') && (IP6Address[i-1] != ':'))
        {
            sprintf(tmp1,"%%.4x");
            strcat(tmp,tmp1);
            printf("1");
        }
        i++;
    }
    printf("tmp = %s \n",tmp);
}

Result:

tmp = %.4x%.4x

Reference:

• How to escape the % sign in C’s printf?