python - String formatting: Columns in line

Question

I am trying to format the string so everything lines up between the two.

APPLES                           $.99                           214                       
kiwi                             $1.09                           755 

I am trying this by doing:

fmt = ('{0:30}{1:30}{2:30}'.format(Fruit,price,qty))

How would I get a column to line up? I read the docs but I am confused. I was thinking that the {1:30} would make it 30 spaces, then it would print the next item, but it appears that it is 30 spaces from where the previous item ended.

Thanks

Answer 1

str.format() is making your fields left aligned within the available space. Use alignment specifiers to change the alignment:

'<' Forces the field to be left-aligned within the available space (this is the default for most objects).

'>' Forces the field to be right-aligned within the available space (this is the default for numbers).

'=' Forces the padding to be placed after the sign (if any) but before the digits. This is used for printing fields in the form ‘+000000120’. This alignment option is only valid for numeric types.

'^' Forces the field to be centered within the available space.

Here's an example (with both left and right alignments):

>>> for args in (('apple', '$1.09', '80'), ('truffle', '$58.01', '2')):
...     print '{0:<10} {1:>8} {2:>8}'.format(*args)
...
apple         $1.09       80
truffle      $58.01        2