C++ and table format printing

Question

I am looking for how to print in C++ so that table column width is fixed. currently I have done using spaces and | and -, but as soon as number goes to double digit all the alignment goes bad.

|---------|------------|-----------|
| NODE    |   ORDER    |   PARENT  |
|---------|------------|-----------|
|  0      |     0      |           |
|---------|------------|-----------|
|  1      |     7      |     7     |
|---------|------------|-----------|
|  2      |     1      |     0     |
|---------|------------|-----------|
|  3      |     5      |     5     |
|---------|------------|-----------|
|  4      |     3      |     6     |
|---------|------------|-----------|
|  5      |     4      |     4     |
|---------|------------|-----------|
|  6      |     2      |     2     |
|---------|------------|-----------|
|  7      |     6      |     4     |
|---------|------------|-----------|

It sounds like you need to define a default width for your printing format. Can you show us how you are printing. `std::cout` or `printf()` — linuxuser27, Oct 05 '10 at 19:47
See my solution here: [http://stackoverflow.com/a/20924887/1325279](http://stackoverflow.com/a/20924887/1325279) — synaptik, Jan 04 '14 at 18:26

score 13 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 28 '13 at 12:37

13

You can use the std::setw manipulator for cout.

There's also a std::setfill to specify the filler, but it defaults to spaces.

If you want to center the values, you'll have to do a bit of calculations. I'd suggest right aligning the values because they are numbers (and it's easier).

cout << '|' << setw(10) << value << '|' setw(10) << value2 << '|' << endl;

Don't forget to include <iomanip>.

It wouldn't be much trouble to wrap this into a general table formatter function, but I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader :)

edited Aug 28 '13 at 12:37

answered Oct 05 '10 at 19:47

JoshD

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@Avinash: "What's wrong with this" isn't really a good question. Are you getting a compilation error? Is it formatted wrong? Please provide more. You can update your question with this... – JoshD Oct 05 '10 at 20:22
During parallel / multicore programs, this will get screwed up for sure. – Nicholas Hamilton Oct 02 '13 at 06:21

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 05 '10 at 20:05

7

You can use the beautiful printf(). I find it easier & nicer for formatting than cout.

Examples:

int main()
{
    printf ("Right align: %7d:)\n", 5);
    printf ("Left align : %-7d:)\n", 5);

    return 0;
}

answered Oct 05 '10 at 20:05

Donotalo

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Avinash's comment to the accepted solution nicely highlights precisely why printf() is far superior to cout for formatted output. ;) – dandan78 Oct 05 '10 at 20:38
1

@dandan78 Which comment? :D – Muhamed Huseinbašić Oct 23 '15 at 18:23

C++ and table format printing

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