Unix C Shell Scripting printf help

Question

Attempting to print out a list of values from 2 different variables that are aligned correctly.

foreach finalList ($correctList $wrongList)
printf "%20s%s\n" $finalList
end

This prints them out an they are aligned, but it's one after another. How would I have it go through each item in each list and THEN go to a new line?

I want them to eventually appear like this:

Correct    Incorrect
Good1      Bad1
Good2      Bad2
Good3      Bad3

Good comes from correctList Bad comes from wrongList

Getting rid of \n makes it Like this:

Good1     Bad1    Good2    Bad2

I just want 2 columns.

Can you give a layout as you want it, using correct1, correct2 and wrong1 wrong2 etc. for the items in each list? — Svante
– Svante, Commented Nov 6, 2008 at 0:37

Robert Gamble · Accepted Answer · 2008-11-06 01:11:04Z

5

You can iterate over both lists at the same time like this:

# Get the max index of the smallest list
set maxIndex = $#correctList
if ( $#wrongList < $#correctList ) then
  set maxIndex = $#wrongList
endif

set index = 1
while ($index <= $maxIndex)
  printf "%-20s %s\n" "$correctList[$index]" "$wrongList[$index]"
  @ index++
end

edited Nov 6, 2008 at 1:11

answered Nov 6, 2008 at 0:58

Robert Gamble

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2 Comments

Jonathan Leffler Over a year ago

Suggestion - applicable to all languages using printf-like notations - would be to use "%-20s %s\n" (or "%-19s %s\n" if the second column should ordinarily start in column 21). This ensures that there is a space between the two values even if the first is longer than 20 (or 19) characters.

Robert Gamble Over a year ago

@Jonathan, I took your suggestion for this example but this is not always the desired behavior. For example, I often have to write routines to export data to fixed-width file formats where spaces aren't required between fields (and inserting extraneous spaces would break the layout).

Ray Tayek · Accepted Answer · 2008-11-06 00:42:07Z

0

try getting rid of the \n

answered Nov 6, 2008 at 0:42

Ray Tayek

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1 Comment

Doug Over a year ago

then they just print all across. It ends up being Good1 Bad1 Good2 Bad2

mpez0 · Accepted Answer · 2008-11-06 17:40:15Z

0

I believe the pr(1) command with the -m option will help do what you want. Look at its man page to eliminate the header/trailer options and set the column widths.

Also, I recommend you not use the C-Shell for scripting; you'll find the sh-syntax shells (sh, bash, ksh, etc) are more consistent and much easier to debug.

answered Nov 6, 2008 at 17:40

mpez0

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1 Comment

LivingDust Over a year ago

I think the dangers of using csh are advertised well enough. Do we have to mention it every time someone asks for help with csh?

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