How to align strings in columns using python with custom print format?

The following code can be consulted, the logic and procedure are commented, if the task is not limited to something specific like here, it is better to write it more modularly

PS： The logic of length and length_total can be rewritten to adjust the spacing between characters

import os


def align_column(items, length):
    res = []
    for index, item in enumerate(items):
        item_length = len(item)
        # Determine if the length reaches the maximum length of this column, or if not, add spaces
        if item_length < length[index]:
            res.append(item + " " * (length[index] - item_length))
        else:
            res.append(item)
    # Add the | character to the beginning and end
    return "|" + "|".join(res) + "|"


def has_data(file, res=True):
    if not os.path.exists(file):
        res = False
    else:
        with open(file) as f:
            if not f.read():
                res = False
    return res


def solution(file_name="data.txt"):
    header = ['Day', 'Month', 'Year', 'Hour', 'Minute']
    init_data = ['Tuesday', 'July', '2022', '03', '06']

    length = [len(max(item, key=len)) for item in zip(header, init_data)]    # Get the longest length of each column
    length_total = sum(length) + len(length) + 1    # Get the length of all content plus the length of the character|

    if not has_data(file_name):  # File does not exist or content is empty
        contents = ["-" * length_total]

        # Add content to the list in sequence for easy one-off addition
        contents.append(align_column(header, length))
        contents.append("|" + "-" * (length_total - 2) + "|")
        contents.append(align_column(init_data, length))
        contents.append("|" + "^" * (length_total - 2) + "|")

        with open(file_name, "w") as f:
            f.write("\n".join(contents))
    else:
        with open(file_name) as f:
            # If there is content, remove the ^ character from the last line
            contents = f.readlines()[:-1]
            # Add content to the list in sequence for easy one-off addition

            # The previous implementation already contained the newline character \n at the end, so the last character needs to be unified
            contents.append("|" + "=" * (length_total - 2) + "|\n")
            contents.append(align_column(init_data, length) + "\n")
            contents.append("|" + "^" * (length_total - 2) + "|\n")

            with open(file_name, "w") as f2:
                f2.write("".join(contents))


solution()

OUTPUT:

# first time
--------------------------------
|Day    |Month|Year|Hour|Minute|
|------------------------------|
|Tuesday|July |2022|03  |06    |
|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|

# second time
--------------------------------
|Day    |Month|Year|Hour|Minute|
|------------------------------|
|Tuesday|July |2022|03  |06    |
|==============================|
|Tuesday|July |2022|03  |06    |
|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|

# third time
--------------------------------
|Day    |Month|Year|Hour|Minute|
|------------------------------|
|Tuesday|July |2022|03  |06    |
|==============================|
|Tuesday|July |2022|03  |06    |
|==============================|
|Tuesday|July |2022|03  |06    |
|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|