How to add X number of spaces to a string

Question

Probably an easy question that I couldn't quite find answer to before...

I'm formatting a table (in text) to look like this:

Timestamp: Word                        Number

The number of characters between the : after timestamp and the beginning of Number is to be 20, including those in the Word (so it stays aligned). Using python I've done this:

    offset = 20 - len(word)

    printer = timestamp + ' ' + word
    for i in range(0, offset):
        printer += ' '
    printer += score

Which works, but python throws an error at me that i is never used ('cause it's not). While it's not a huge deal, I'm just wondering if there's a better way to do so.

Edit:

Since I can't add an answer to this (as it's marked duplicate) the better way to replace this whole thing is

printer = timestamp + ' ' + word.ljust(20) + score

I'm voting to re-open this question because it is asking about modifying a string, not printing it. Though there are answers that apply to both questions, the question itself is not the same. It's possible that there are answers that only apply to one of these two questions. — Aran-Fey, Sep 15 '17 at 16:08
@Rawing I'd vote to keep it closed. Strings are immutable in python; you **can't** modify a string — Mitch, Sep 16 '17 at 16:55

score 61 · Accepted Answer · answered May 23 '14 at 18:09

61

You can multiply by strings by numbers to replicate them.

    printer += ' ' * offset

answered May 23 '14 at 18:09

merlin2011

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score 8 · Answer 2 · answered May 23 '14 at 18:21

8

String formatting may work too

'{}: {: <20s}{}'.format("Timestamp", "Word", 200)
Timestamp: Word                200

answered May 23 '14 at 18:21

iruvar

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score 3 · Answer 3 · answered May 23 '14 at 18:10

3

Try

printer += ' '*offset

instead of the for-loop

answered May 23 '14 at 18:10

wastl

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How to add X number of spaces to a string

3 Answers3

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