printf-style string formatting

APL (73)

{⊃,/,⌿↑(⊂2∘↓¨Z⊂G),⊂{'c'0≡⍵,∊⊃⍺:⎕UCS⍺⋄⍕⍺}/⍵,⍪⌷∘G¨1↓1+(Z←G='%')/⍳⍴G←'%!',⍺}

Some tests:

      'a:%c b:%s c:%d'{⊃,/,⌿↑(⊂2∘↓¨Z⊂G),⊂{'c'0≡⍵,∊⊃⍺:⎕UCS⍺⋄⍕⍺}/⍵,⍪⌷∘G¨1↓1+(Z←G='%')/⍳⍴G←'%!',⍺} 65 'foo' 67
a:A b:foo c:67 

      printf←{⊃,/,⌿↑(⊂2∘↓¨Z⊂G),⊂{'c'0≡⍵,∊⊃⍺:⎕UCS⍺⋄⍕⍺}/⍵,⍪⌷∘G¨1↓1+(Z←G='%')/⍳⍴G←'%!',⍺}
      '1:%s 2:%s 3:%d 4:%c 5:%c' printf 'foo' 'bar' 100 110 'z'
1:foo 2:bar 3:100 4:n 5:z   
      'The %s brown %c%c%c jumps over the %s dog.' printf 'quick' 102 111 'x' 'lazy'
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Explanation:

• G←'%!',⍺: prefix a dummy specifier to the string (for easier processing)
• (Z←G='%')/⍳⍴G: find the indices of all the % characters in the string; also store a bitmask in Z
• ⌷∘G¨1↓1+: select all the characters next to the %s, and drop the dummy.
• ⍵,⍪: match up each specifier with its value from the right argument.
• {...}/: run the following function on each pair:
  • 'c'0≡⍵,∊⊃⍺: if the argument is a number and the specifier is c:
  • :⎕UCS⍺: then return the unicode value of the argument,
  • ⋄⍕⍺: otherwise, return the string representation of the argument.
• ⊂: enclose
• ⊂2∘↓¨Z⊂G: split the string on the %s and then remove the first two characters of each substring (this is where the dummy comes in), and enclose the result of that.
• ↑: make a matrix out of the two enclosed arrays, matching up each substring with the value that should follow it.
• ,⌿: join each substring with its value.
• ⊃,/: then join the resulting strings.

Lua 5.2, 115 bytes

-- Function definition, 115 chars
function f(f,...)n,t=0,{...}return(f:gsub('%%(%a)',function(s)n=n+1return(({c=s.char})[s]or tostring)(t[n])end))end

-- Usage example
print(f('Happy %cew %d %s %f',78,2014,'Year!',math.pi))
-- Output: Happy New 2014 Year! 3.1415926535898

Ruby: 102 characters

f=->s,*a{s.gsub(/%(.)/){$1==?%??%:a.shift.send({?c=>:chr,?s=>:to_s,?d=>:to_i,?f=>:to_f}[$1])rescue$&}}

Sample run:

irb(main):001:0> f=->s,*a{s.gsub(/%(.)/){$1==?%??%:a.shift.send({?c=>:chr,?s=>:to_s,?d=>:to_i,?f=>:to_f}[$1])rescue$&}}
=> #<Proc:0x96634ac@(irb):1 (lambda)>

irb(main):002:0> puts f["percent : %%\n   char : %c or %c\n string : %s or %s or %s\ndecimal : %d or %d or %d\n  float : %f or %f or %f\ninvalid : %x or %s or %d or %f", 65, 'B', 'format me', 42, Math::PI, 42, Math::PI, '2014', 42, Math::PI, '2014', 'more']
percent : %
   char : A or B
 string : format me or 42 or 3.141592653589793
decimal : 42 or 3 or 2014
  float : 42.0 or 3.141592653589793 or 2014.0
invalid : %x or  or 0 or 0.0
=> nil

Invalid format specifiers are kept in place. Format specifiers without argument value are replaced with the empty value of the given type.