Is there a function equivalent for $sformat?

Question

I'm writing SystemVerilog code and I notice that $sformat is a system task, not a function. Is there a function equivalent to $sformat?

I'd like to do the following inside a function:

assert(my_dto_h.a == 10) else begin
  `ovm_error("component", $sformat("my_dto_h.a should be 10, not %0d", my_dto_h.a))
end

Unfortunately, I'm getting the the following run-time error from QuestaSim 10.2:

** Error: (vsim-PLI-3029) component.sv(105): Expected a system function, not system task '$sformat'.

Answer 1

Yes, $sformatf

From the LRM:

The system function $sformatf behaves like $sformat except that the string result is passed back as the function result value for $sformatf, not placed in the first argument as for $sformat. Thus $sformatf can be used where a string value would be valid.

variable_format_string_output_function ::=
   $sformatf ( format_string [ , list_of_arguments ] )

Example:

string s;
s = $sformatf("Value = %0d", value);