C# Console Formatting

Question

I'm iterating through a list of objects of type Persons, and displaying the name and surname of each persons.

for (int i = 0; i < myList.Count; i++)
{
   Console.WriteLine("-|- Name: " + myList[i].GetName() +
                      "| Surname: " + myList[i].GetName() + "|");

}

The output in the console is as follows!

-|- Name: Abcdef | Surname: Asqw |
-|- Name: Aswer | Surname: Asdgfsdf |
-|- Name: Adxz | Surname: Asdsada |

I would like the output to be shown in the form of a table as below.

-|- Name: Abcdef | Surname: Asqw     |
-|- Name: Aswer  | Surname: Asdgfsdf |
-|- Name: Adxz   | Surname: Asdsada  |

Thanks

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/366124/inserting-a-tab-character-into-text-using-c-sharp — Wim Ombelets, Oct 14 '13 at 11:33
You would have to find the right amount of tab (`\t`) characters for a specified name length so that each one lines up — Alex Blundell, Oct 14 '13 at 11:33

Brad Christie · Answer 1 · 2013-10-14T11:41:58.303

var name = myList[i].GetName();
var surname = myList[i].GetName();
Console.WriteLine("-|- Name: {0,-10} | Surname: {1:-10} |", name, surname);

You can supply the padding parameter to the formatter. In this example, every column takes up at least 10 characters.

{0:-10}
  0   argument reference
  :   parameter separator
  -10 left-justified padding (exempting the `-` means it will pad to the right)

See the String.Format docs for more information (since Console.WriteLine(format, params args) inherits this composite formatting)

Carlos Landeras · Answer 2 · 2013-10-14T11:39:44.523

2

Use padRight to fill with spaces all the rows with less characters so you can align all of them at same location:

Console.WriteLine( ("-|- Name: " + myList[i].GetName()).PadRight(20,' ') + 
                  ("| Surname: " + myList[i].GetName() ) + "|".PadRight(20,' ');

edited Oct 14 '13 at 11:39

answered Oct 14 '13 at 11:34

Carlos Landeras

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This does not pad each column but the whole string... – Sascha Oct 14 '13 at 11:35
true. Let me update it ;) – Carlos Landeras Oct 14 '13 at 11:36

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 14 '13 at 11:34

C#'s string has a PadRight method (public string PadRight ( int totalWidth, char paddingChar );). You can use this method to fill a string with a char as long as required to have it be it certain length. Drawback: you need to know what the longest text will by, so you night need to loop twice over the data.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 14 '13 at 11:35

1

You should use composite formatting as follows:

Console.WriteLine(
  "-|- Name: {0,-10} | Surname: {1,-10} |", 
  myList[i].GetName(),
  myList[i].GetName());

For more information, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/txafckwd.aspx

answered Oct 14 '13 at 11:35

Kris Vandermotten

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 14 '13 at 11:34

0

You can add \t in your strings everytime you would like to add a tabulation.

answered Oct 14 '13 at 11:34

Pacane

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score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 14 '13 at 11:35

0

Console.WriteLine("-|- Name: {0,-10}| Surname: {1,-10}|", 
    myList[i].GetName(), 
    myList[i].GetSurname());

answered Oct 14 '13 at 11:35

Benoit Blanchon

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tomsullivan1989 · Answer 7 · 2013-10-14T11:39:51.530

You can use tabs (\t) in your strings, e.g:

 Console.WriteLine("-|- Name: " + myList[i].GetName() + "\t | Surname: "
                     + myList[i].GetName() + "\t |");

Add as many tabs as you need.

Or you can ensure each column takes up at least x characters:

Console.WriteLine("-|- Name: {0,-x}| Surname: {1,-x}|", 
    myList[i].GetName(), 
    myList[i].GetSurname());

Or you can use the PadRight method on each column (set x to the number you want):

Console.WriteLine( ("-|- Name: " + myList[i].GetName()).PadRight(x,' ') + 
                  ("| Surname: " + myList[i].GetName() ) + "|".PadRight(x,' ');

C# Console Formatting

7 Answers7