need 4 items to format a number - format (fixed/scientific/general) - width - precision - left/right (default is right, but suppose had used 'left' earlier for a string) fixed, scientific, general: - fixed = business format (fixed no. of decimal places) - scientific = scientific notation (mantissa/exponent) - general = fixed for small nos., scientific for large - default is general - fixed and scientific reset each other - to return to general, resetiosflags(ios::fixed | ios::scientific) or cout.unsetf(ios::fixed | ios::scientific) setw(): - only manipulator that is not sticky/persistent - default is setw(0) = no spaces between numbers - if number is too large, it forces columns to move over precision(): - fixed: no. of decimal places - scientific: no. of decimal places in mantissa - general: total no. of digits (on this compiler) - default is setprecision(6) left and right: - left and right reset each other (also internal, see below) - default is right - usually want 'left' for strings, then need 'right' for following number boolalpha: - display true and false instead of 1 and 0 what needs to be included: - all need #include - manipulators with arguments need