print with variable justification (with *)

[Why Tea]

print format % values
An optional minimum width of the conversion, specified using one or
more digits or an asterisk (*), which means that the width is taken
from the next item in values

That's from one of O'reilly's books. But there is no example and I
couldn't get it to work by trials and errors. Does anyone have a
working example?

/Why Tea

 

[Marc 'BlackJack' Rintsch]

print format % values
An optional minimum width of the conversion, specified using one or
more digits or an asterisk (*), which means that the width is taken
from the next item in values

That's from one of O'reilly's books. But there is no example and I
couldn't get it to work by trials and errors. Does anyone have a
working example?

In [50]: '%*s' % (5, 'spam')
Out[50]: ' spam'

In [51]: '%*s' % (10, 'spam')
Out[51]: ' spam'

In [52]: '%*s' % (15, 'spam')
Out[52]: ' spam'

Ciao,
Marc 'BlackJack' Rintsch

 

[tom]

print format % values
An optional minimum width of the conversion, specified using one or
more digits or an asterisk (*), which means that the width is taken
from the next item in values

That's from one of O'reilly's books. But there is no example and I
couldn't get it to work by trials and errors. Does anyone have a
working example?

/Why Tea

value = 3.141592654
print "%1.3f" % value


there you go look at printf in c for general ideas about the format
specifiers

 

[Why Tea]

In [50]: '%*s' % (5, 'spam')

Out[50]: ' spam'

Marc, that's exactly what I need. Thanks!

/Why Tea

 

[John Machin]

value = 3.141592654
print "%1.3f" % value

Please consider reading the subject of a message occasionally

| >>> value = 3.141592654
| >>> print "%1.3f" % value
| 3.142
| >>> print "%10.3f" % value
| 3.142
| >>> print "%*.3f" % (1, value)
| 3.142
| >>> print "%*.3f" % (10, value)
| 3.142
| >>> for n in range(11):
| ... print "%*.3f" % (n, value)
| ...
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| >>>

there you go

There *you* go

look at printf in c for general ideas about the format
specifiers

Unfortunately this is about the same advice as given by the official
Python tutorial:

"""Most formats work exactly as in C [snip] Using * to pass the width
or precision in as a separate (integer) argument is supported"""

Not quite so many folks come to Python with a background in C these
days. Is anyone aware of a tutorial that covers % formatting from a
standing start?

Cheers,
John

 

[tom]

Please consider reading the subject of a message occasionally

Sorry bout that !

| >>> value = 3.141592654
| >>> print "%1.3f" % value
| 3.142
| >>> print "%10.3f" % value
| 3.142
| >>> print "%*.3f" % (1, value)
| 3.142
| >>> print "%*.3f" % (10, value)
| 3.142
| >>> for n in range(11):
| ... print "%*.3f" % (n, value)
| ...
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| 3.142
| >>>

there you go

There *you* go

look at printf in c for general ideas about the format
specifiers

Unfortunately this is about the same advice as given by the official
Python tutorial:

"""Most formats work exactly as in C [snip] Using * to pass the width
or precision in as a separate (integer) argument is supported"""

Not quite so many folks come to Python with a background in C these
days. Is anyone aware of a tutorial that covers % formatting from a
standing start?

If you're on a unix system you can probably do `man fprintf`, but it
will mean wading through a lot of stuff you're no interested in. This
has a good little section on it though, specifically for python

http://rgruet.free.fr/PQR24/PQR2.4.html

 

[John Machin]

John Machin wrote:
If you're on a unix system you can probably do `man fprintf`, but it
will mean wading through a lot of stuff you're no interested in. This
has a good little section on it though, specifically for python

http://rgruet.free.fr/PQR24/PQR2.4.html

Well done, tom, you've redeemed yourself! Those formatting examples are
just the ticket. I used that quick reference years ago when I started
out with Python, but I wasn't aware that it was still maintained, and
an advertisement for CSS as well. Bonus!

Cheers,
John