How to fix mbed printf() ignoring decimals in PlatformIO

Problem:

You are using code like

printf("%.2f\n", myFloat);

in your mbed/PlatformIO application, but instead of printing myFloat with 2 decimal places, it always prints it with 6 decimal places (like 0.000000).

Solution

mbed uses the minimal-printf library by default which is configured to save space on the Microcontroller. Hence, float max decimals support is disabled by default. In order to get all printf features at the expense of more flash usage and much slower executing, us add mbed_app.json in the root directory of the PlatformIO project with "target.printf_lib": "std":

{
    "target_overrides": {
      "*": {
        "target.printf_lib": "std"
      }
    }
}

See the platform configuration option page for more details and similar options.