How to format text with style

Question

A code below:

info={'Resolution':'640x360', 'DisplayResolution': '640x360', 'Display Channels':'R,G,B,A'}
for key in info:
    print (key + str(info[key].rjust(45,'.')))

produces a following output:

Resolution......................................640x360
DisplayResolution......................................640x360
Display Channels......................................R,G,B,A

But I would like to get:

Resolution.............................................640x360
DisplayResolution......................................640x360
Display Channels.......................................R,G,B,A

How to achieve this?

EDITED:

Thanks everyone for your valuable input. Here is a summary of the code I put together based on your suggestions:

ROW_SIZE=0
for key, value in info.iteritems():
    if not key or not value: continue
    key=str(key)
    value=str(value)
    total=len(key)+len(value)+10
    if ROW_SIZE<total: ROW_SIZE=total

result=''
if ROW_SIZE:
    for key in info:
        result+=(key+str(info[key]).rjust(ROW_SIZE-len(key),'.'))+'\n'
print result

possible duplicate of [fill out a python string with spaces?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5676646/fill-out-a-python-string-with-spaces) The function already exists. Just replace the space with a dot and you have your answer. — TheSoundDefense, Aug 01 '14 at 19:27

unutbu · Answer 1 · 2014-08-01T19:37:16.980

8

Place the periods as a filler for the key, not the value:

info = {'Resolution':'640x360', 'DisplayResolution': '640x360',
      'Display Channels':'R,G,B,A'}
for key, value in info.items():
    print('{k:.<55}{v}'.format(k=key, v=value))

yields

Resolution.............................................640x360
DisplayResolution......................................640x360
Display Channels.......................................R,G,B,A

The above using the newer format method. Alternatively, using old-style string formatting:

for key,value in info.items():
    print('%s%s' % (key.ljust(55, '.'), value))

edited Aug 01 '14 at 19:37

answered Aug 01 '14 at 19:27

unutbu

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1

I didn't know you this was possible in python, thanks for teaching me something. +1 – agconti Aug 01 '14 at 19:34

Máté · Answer 2 · 2014-08-01T19:45:33.837

2

I would use a set row length and calculate the number needed for rjust like

info={'Resolution':'640x360', 'DisplayResolution': '640x360', 'Display Channels':'R,G,B,A'}
ROW_SIZE = 100 
for key in info:
    dots = ROW_SIZE - len(key) - len(info[key])
    print (key + str(info[key].rjust(dots,'.')))

edited Aug 01 '14 at 19:45

answered Aug 01 '14 at 19:28

Máté

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I believe in this case he wants `ljust`. – TheSoundDefense Aug 01 '14 at 19:29
2

I apologize, I have steered you wrong and `rjust` was correct after all. I didn't realize it right away until I ran the code. You were correct the first time. (Here's your rollback badge.) – TheSoundDefense Aug 01 '14 at 19:33

agconti · Answer 3 · 2014-08-01T19:30:01.707

Just make the rjust value dynamic to a desired total length:

For example:

info={'Resolution':'640x360', 'DisplayResolution': '640x360', 'Display Channels':'R,G,B,A'}
desired_length = 55
for key in info:
    num_dots = desired_length - len(key) + len(info[key])
    print (key + str(info[key].rjust(num_dots,'.')))

Output:

Resolution.............................................640x360
DisplayResolution......................................640x360
Display Channels.......................................R,G,B,A

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 01 '14 at 19:32

1

the best way would be to keep track of word length and have a variable for number of spaces left and define an overall space (say 45 as length before resolution and color information)

 for key in info:
      print (key+str(info[key]).rjust(45-len(key),'.'))

One more thing, you may not need str() starting with info[key]. strings are right justified so if the output continues, it is unecessary. Otherwise perform my fix.

answered Aug 01 '14 at 19:32

Andrew Scott Evans

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This is great. Exactly what I need since this approach takes into the account the variable strings length and produces a consistent result. I posted what I ended up with on `EDITED` of my original question. – alphanumeric Aug 01 '14 at 20:30

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 01 '14 at 20:09

If you want two columns lined up even if the right column is a different width, you can do:

info={'Resolution':'640x360', 'DisplayResolution': '640x360',
      'Display Channels':'R,G,B'}

keys_col=max(len(max(info.keys(), key=len)), 35)    
val_col=max(len(max(info.keys(), key=len)), 10)
for k in info:
    v=info[k]
    line=k.ljust(keys_col, '.') + v.rjust(val_col, '.')
    print line

Prints:

Resolution...................................640x360
DisplayResolution............................640x360
Display Channels...............................R,G,B

Or, with format you can do:

for k in info:
    v=info[k]
    print '{0:.<{c0}}{1:.>{c1}}'.format(k, v, c0=keys_col, c1=val_col)

FWIW, `f(max(it, key=f))` is better spelt just `max(map(f, it))`. — Veedrac, Aug 02 '14 at 13:24
Oh, and your `for` loop should be `for k, v in info.items()`. — Veedrac, Aug 02 '14 at 13:25

How to format text with style

5 Answers5