How can I build this string in my C# program? [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
C# string formatting and padding

In my C# program, I have four variables:

string checkNo = "1234";
string checkAmount = "25.60";
string checkCashedDate = "120413";
string filler = "   "; // three spaces

I'd like to build a string (26 positions long) that looks like this:

"00123400000002560120413   "

I can manually do, i.e. check each fields length (remove decimals), pad with the appropriate amount of zeros, append to final string. But, I was hoping that there was a quicker way. Like creating a string with a certain format (all zeros) and then "dropping in" the values. Is there anything like this available in C#? Thanks for any help and advice.

Come on, you're not even trying. Use string.Format. blog.stevex.net/string-formatting-in-csharp — Thinking Sites
– Thinking Sites, Commented May 15, 2012 at 16:06
I would recommend using the FileHelpers library instead, just guessing. — Joshua Drake
– Joshua Drake, Commented May 15, 2012 at 16:07
The string formatting site you provided is awesome! Thanks so much! — Kevin
– Kevin, Commented May 15, 2012 at 16:14
I have to downvote this question. This question shows no effort to solve the problem yourself. — Security Hound
– Security Hound, Commented May 15, 2012 at 16:24
Sorry about that, Ramhound. I've never used any type of string manipulation in C# and figured I could ask the programmers here to point me in the right direction. The string formatting site that Thinking Sites listed earlier was a big help! — Kevin
– Kevin, Commented May 15, 2012 at 16:26

Oded · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-15 16:21:17Z

5

You can use String.PadLeft to build this string appropriately:

string result = checkNo.PadLeft(6, '0') + 
                checkAmount.Replace(".","").PadLeft(11, '0') +
                checkCashedDate.PadLeft(6, '0') + filler;

That being said, I would personally store these values as numerical values and a DateTime instead of string values, and use a single String.Format statement to reformat the results. This provides more type safety while working with the values.

edited May 15, 2012 at 16:21

Oded

501k102 gold badges900 silver badges1k bronze badges

answered May 15, 2012 at 16:12

Reed Copsey

567k80 gold badges1.2k silver badges1.4k bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Kevin Over a year ago

Thanks, Reed! The reason those variables are in string format is because I'm reading them in from a text file and parsing those values out of the resulting input. Should I, instead of keeping them as strings, do as you suggest and store them as their appropriate data types? I'm basically just reading from one text file, creating a string from the input, and writing it out to another text file to be sent on to a banking entity.

Reed Copsey Over a year ago

@Kevin It depends - it's often safer to treat them in their appropriate types, especially if there is any variation in formatting...

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 11:47:33Z

4

Use string.PadLeft to ensure the width of each part of the larger string, in conjunction with string.Format and string.Replace.

checkNo.PadLeft(6, '0') + 
checkAmount.Replace(".", "").PadLeft(11, '0')  + 
checkCashedDate.PadLeft(6, '0') + filler

Or:

string.Format("{0}{1}{2}{3}",
              checkNo.PadLeft(6, '0'),
              checkAmount.Replace(".", "").PadLeft(11, '0'),
              checkCashedDate.PadLeft(6, '0'),
              filler);

Or, (using Composite Formatting), as Guffa posted:

string.Format(
  "{0,6}{1,11}{2,6}",
  checkNo,
  checkAmount.Replace(".", ""),
  checkCashedDate
).Replace(" ", "0") + filler

edited May 23, 2017 at 11:47

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered May 15, 2012 at 16:09

Oded

501k102 gold badges900 silver badges1k bronze badges

2 Comments

Reed Copsey Over a year ago

Shouldn't the checkCashedDate padding be PadLeft(6, ...? (The 0 is from 25.60 in the previous element.)

Oded Over a year ago

@ReedCopsey - Yes, it should. All those 0 have confused my eyes...

Oded · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-15 16:21:58Z

2

You can use String.Format to pad with spaces, and replace those spaces with zeroes:

String.Format(
  "{0,6}{1,11}{2,6}",
  checkNo,
  checkAmount.Replace(".", ""),
  checkCashedDate
).Replace(" ", "0") + filler

edited May 15, 2012 at 16:21

Oded

501k102 gold badges900 silver badges1k bronze badges

answered May 15, 2012 at 16:15

Guffa

703k111 gold badges760 silver badges1k bronze badges

Comments

saluce · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-15 17:46:45Z

1

Check out the String.Format() method.

This example shows how to use the String.Format method to generate the string of numbers:

String.Format("{0,6}{1,11}{2,6}", checkNo, checkAmount, checkCashedDate).Replace(' ','0');

edited May 15, 2012 at 17:46

answered May 15, 2012 at 16:06

saluce

13.4k3 gold badges52 silver badges68 bronze badges

4 Comments

Reed Copsey Over a year ago

Not clear how this is going to help, completely, as the OP is working from string variables....

Attila Over a year ago

You will also need to convert the strings to floating point variables first

Security Hound Over a year ago

Can we get more then just a single link to how one of the most basic methods in C# works? If the author knew how to use this method he would have.

saluce Over a year ago

@Ramhouse Done before you asked =)

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How can I build this string in my C# program? [duplicate]

4 Answers 4

2 Comments

2 Comments

Comments

4 Comments

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

4 Answers 4

2 Comments

2 Comments

Comments

4 Comments

Linked

Related