python string format: how can I combine width and dictionary elements using str.format()

Question

I am trying to format a dictionary and specify elements' width using the newer str.format():

>>> record = { 'name': 'Donald Trump', 'age': 12 }
>>> print "{name} {age}".format(**record)
Donald Trump 12
>>> # how would I set width for the name field to accommodate longer names

How do I use a combination of dictionary attributes access and formatting like width control?

You are asking for 3 elements. One is "silent" before the `:`. Simply change to: `print "{name:>30} {age}".format(**record)` — Tomerikoo, Jun 30 '19 at 10:09
Read this [pyformat summary](https://pyformat.info/) which has a lot of different formatting options and helpful explanations — Tomerikoo, Jun 30 '19 at 10:30

AdamGold · Accepted Answer · 2019-06-30T10:22:50.550

Here's the correct syntax:

In [31]: print("{name} {age}".format(**record))                                                                                                                                                                                                               
Donald Trump 12

In [32]: print("{name:>30} {age}".format(**record))                                                                                                                                                                                                           
                  Donald Trump 12

In [33]: print("{name:30} {age}".format(**record))                                                                                                                                                                                                            
Donald Trump                   12

Notice that I am using Python 3.7, you should remove the parenthesis from the print method if you're using Python<3 (which I do not recommend).

From Python docs:

align ::= "<" | ">" | "=" | "^"

>>> '{:<30}'.format('left aligned')
'left aligned                  '
>>> '{:>30}'.format('right aligned')
'                 right aligned'
>>> '{:^30}'.format('centered')
'           centered

python string format: how can I combine width and dictionary elements using str.format()

1 Answers1