How to use setw and setfill together in C++ to pad with blanks AND chars?

Question

I need to write a program for a homework assignment to calculate tuition costs and the output should be formatted like so with the dot padding and space padding after the dollar sign:

Student Name:                Name goes here
Address:                     Address goes here


Number of credits: ..........         5
Cost per credit hour: ............ $ 50

My code so far is:

#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <string>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;

double const REG_FEE = 700, STUDENT_ASSEMBLY_FEE = 7.19, LEGAL_FEE = 8.50, STUDGOV_FEE = 1.50, 
LATE_FEE_PERCENTAGE = 0.015; 



int main()

{ double num_credits, cost_per_credit, tuition_total, late_charge, amount_due; 

string student_name;
string student_address; 
string student_city_state_ZIP;


ifstream info;
info.open ("info.txt");


getline (info, student_name);
getline (info, student_address);
getline (info, student_city_state_ZIP);
info >> num_credits;
info >> cost_per_credit;

tuition_total = num_credits * cost_per_credit + REG_FEE + STUDENT_ASSEMBLY_FEE + LEGAL_FEE
+ STUDGOV_FEE;
late_charge = tuition_total * LATE_FEE_PERCENTAGE;
amount_due = tuition_total + late_charge;


cout << "Tuition and Billing Program by Neal P." << endl
<< setw(18) << "Student Name:" << student_name << endl
<< setw(18) << "Address:" << student_address << endl
<< left << setfill('.') << endl
<< setfill(18) << "Number of Credits:" << setw(5) << "$" <<  num_credits << endl
<< setfill(18) << "Cost per Credit Hour:" << setw(5) << "$" << cost_per_credit << endl
<< setfill(18) << "Tuition Cost:" << setw(5) << "$" << tuition_total << endl
<< setfill(18) << "Registration Fee:" << setw(5) << "$" << REG_FEE << endl
<< setfill(18) << "MSA Fee:" << setw(5) << "$" << STUDENT_ASSEMBLY_FEE << endl
<< setfill(18) << "Legal Services Fee:" << setw(5) << "$" << LEGAL_FEE << endl
<< setfill(18) << "Student Government Fee:" << setw(5) << "$" << STUDGOV_FEE << endl;

return 0;

}

When I compile I get a very long error, something like : "In function ‘int main()’: /Users/nealp/Desktop/machine problem 2.cpp:41: error: no match for ‘operator<<’ in ‘((std::basic_ostream >*)std::operator<< [with _CharT = char, _Traits = std::char_traits](((std::basic_ostream >&)((std::basic_ostream >*)((std::basic_ostream >*)((std::basic_ostream >*)std::operator<<" that continues. Is this an issue with my use of both setw and setfill together? I know that setfill only has to be declared once and setw is only effective on the next line output, but I defined setfill each time because I was using setw before it.

`setfill(18)` before "Number of Credits" etc. looks strange... — PoByBolek, Sep 18 '13 at 17:58
There is no reason why you would have the output all in one line, you can use multiple lines, e.g. `cout << "Tuition and Billing Program by Neal P." << endl; cout << setw(18) << "Student Name:" << student_name << endl;"` Makes both your code and error messages more readable. — Zane, Sep 18 '13 at 18:07

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 18 '13 at 18:12

std::setfill is a function template and it's template argument gets deduced based on the type of the argument you pass it to. It's return type is unspecified - it's some implementation defined proxy type that sets fill character on the stream object and enables further chaining of operator<< calls. It's also dependent on the type that setfill gets instantiated with.

The type of literal 18 is int so setfill returns some unrelated type for which there's no operator<< avaliable.

I'm not sure what you meant with setfill(18), I'm guessing you've mistaken it for setw(18).

user1502952 · Answer 2 · 2013-09-18T18:39:04.013

Just replace setfill(18) in your code, that is the reason for compilation error.

Here is the improved printing portion to fit the requirements,

cout << "Tuition and Billing Program by Neal P." << endl
<< "Student Name:" << student_name << endl
<< "Address:" << student_address << endl
<<endl<<endl<< "Number of Credits:" << setfill('.') << setw(5) <<"$" <<  num_credits   
<< endl<< "Cost per Credit Hour:"<<setfill('.')<<setw(5)<< "$" << cost_per_credit << 
endl<< "Tuition Cost:" << setfill('.')<<setw(5)<< "$" << tuition_total << endl
<< "Registration Fee:" << setfill('.')<<setw(5) << "$" << REG_FEE << endl
<< "MSA Fee:" << setfill('.')<<setw(5) << "$" << STUDENT_ASSEMBLY_FEE << endl
<< "Legal Services Fee:" << setfill('.')<<setw(5) << "$" << LEGAL_FEE << endl
<< "Student Government Fee:" << setfill('.')<<setw(5) << "$" << STUDGOV_FEE << endl;

How to use setw and setfill together in C++ to pad with blanks AND chars?

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