Aligning multiple columns in python 3

Question

I am trying to format a group of columns in python 3. So far I have not had much luck.

This is the code I am using.

first_row = ['Indicator',':Min',':Max']

col_width = max(len(word) for word in first_row) +20# padding

print ("".join(word.ljust(col_width) for word in first_row))

print('----------------------------------------------------------------------------')

heart=['Heart Disease Death Rate     (2007)',stateheart_min(),heartdis_min(),stateheart_max(),heartdis_max()]
motor=[ 'Motor Vehicle Death Rate     (2009)',statemotor_min(),motordeath_min(),statemotor_max(),motordeath_max()]
teen=['Teen Birth Rate (2009)',stateteen_min(),teenbirth_min(),stateteen_max(),teenbirth_max()]
smoke=['Adult Smoking     (2010)',statesmoke_min(),adultsmoke_min(),statesmoke_max(),adultsmoke_max()]
obese=['Adult Obesity     (2010)',stateobese_min(),adultobese_min(),stateobese_max(),adultobese_max()]

heart_col_width = max(len(word) for word in heart)
motor_col_width = max(len(word) for word in motor)
teen_col_width = max(len(word) for word in teen)
smoke_col_width = max(len(word) for word in smoke)
obese_col_width = max(len(word) for word in obese)


for heart, motor, teen, smoke, obese in zip(heart, motor, teen, smoke, obese ):
    print('{heart:{heart_col_width}}:{motor:{motor_col_width}} {teen:{teen_col_width}{smoke:    {smoke_col_width}}{obese:{obese_col_width}'.format(heart, motor, teen, smoke, obese ))

You are passing in 6 values to format just 3 columns.

Martijn Pieters
– Martijn Pieters

2014-11-30 02:24:12 +00:00
Commented Nov 30, 2014 at 2:24 — Martijn Pieters
– Martijn Pieters, Commented Nov 30, 2014 at 2:24

Scott Hunter · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-30 02:24:53Z

4

Instead of using tabs to try and align things, specify the actual width of each column in your format statement.

Something like this:

print('{:20s} {:20s} {:20s}'.format(a,b,c))

answered Nov 30, 2014 at 2:24

Scott Hunter

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Comments

Martijn Pieters · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-30 02:34:08Z

2

Tabs are not a great way to line columns up. Use fixed widths instead:

for label, minimum, maximum, e, f in zip(r1, r3, r4, r5, r6):
    print('{:32}: {:20}: {:20}'.format(label, minimum, maximum))

Note that I included the : colon in the string format; no need to pass in those colons with the lists.

You could make the width dynamic here; calculate it from the widest value in the r1 list for example:

label_width = max(len(v) for v in r1)
minimum_col_width = max(len(v) for v in r3)
maximum_col_width = max(len(v) for v in r4)

for label, minimum, maximum, e, f in zip(r1, r3, r4, r5, r6):
    print('{label:{lwidth}}: {min:{minwidth}}: {max:{maxwidth}}'.format(
        lwidth=label_width, minwidth=minimum_col_width, maxwidth=maximum_col_width,
        min=minimum, max=maximum))

Here label_width is first interpolated into the {lwidth} slot, setting the width when formatting the {label:..} slot, etc. I used named slots rather than positional, because using proper names makes it easier to figure out what goes where.

edited Nov 30, 2014 at 2:34

answered Nov 30, 2014 at 2:26

Martijn Pieters

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3 Comments

Robin Denise Smith Over a year ago

Thank you, this helps a lot, but I still can't figure out why the last three columns won't even show up. It's supposed to be state, number, state, number.

Martijn Pieters Over a year ago

@RobinDeniseSmith: well, my string format didn't include them because it isn't entirely clear to me what you are formatting here. You can add more columns in the string format, and pass in more values to format. Do try and give your columns better names than a, b, etc.

Martijn Pieters Over a year ago

@RobinDeniseSmith: I expanded a little to include a 3rd column, including calculating widths for all those columns.

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