Telling mathematica to output * instead of space for multiplication, so I can copy as plain text

Question

I am trying to get some symbolic expressions in Mathematica which I would like to paste into my C/MATLAB codes. This can be accomplished nicely by selecting the expression and right-clicking to select Copy as plain-text.

However there is one small issue I have.

Consider the simplest possible case for 2 symbols a and b

In[1]:= c = a*b


Out[1]= a b

How can I tell Mathematica to produce all its output as a*b and not a b Without this, I have to go through the pain of replacing manually all spaces in my C/MATLAB codes with the * espcecially for long expressions.

Answer 1

The * multiplication operator is rendered in InputForm:

c = a b;

c // InputForm

a*b

For producing/exporting strings:

ExportString[c, "Text"]

ToString[c, InputForm]

"a*b"
"a*b"

Answer 2

You can set the multiplication symbol in Preferences->Appearance->Numbers->Multiplication

Answer 3

The easiest way to do so is use the "Find and Replace" menu (Ctrl+F), select the blank space between a and b and replace it with * symbol.

It perfectly works for me.