Java : Formatting a string

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1

I want to create a method which returns a string. However I want the string to be formatted as if the results were in a table. e.g.

Field one : content
The second field : content
F3: content

So basically I just need to work out, for each line, the appropriate space to insert inbetween the field name and the content data.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance guys

2

I’d say you’re best chance of getting a table appearance is to use tabs, represented by "\ " in Java.


String s = "Field" + "\	" + "value";

Of course field and value will be variables

3

You might also look at String.format() method:


System.out.println(String.format("%20s %20s %20s", "first field", "second field", "and another field"));
System.out.println(String.format("%20s %20s %20s", "more", "and more", "even more"));

This will output something like this:


         first field         second field    and another field
                more             and more            even more

See more here: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/index.html?java/util/Formatter.html

4

Thankyou both for the responses.

What does the %20s represent please?

5

Have you looked at the link I provided?

There you will find the syntax for formatting.

20 means the width of the field, “is a non-negative decimal integer indicating the minimum number of characters to be written to the output.”

So if you write there more than 20 chars it won’t be alilgned.

6

sorry, i looked but couldn’t work out how to justify the text. Don’t know how i missed it. Thankyou for your posts, very helpful, works perfect :slight_smile:

String s = String.format("%-20s %-20s", "Field one : ", "data");
String t = String.format("%-20s %-20s", "Second field : ", "more data");

return(s+"\
"+t);
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