Aligning a string with string.Format()

Question

I got a method which receives a message and a Priority enum and returns a formatted string.

private string FormatMessage(string message, Priority priority)
{
    return string.Format("*{0,-6}* - {1}", priority, message);
}

Priority has three possible values: High, Medium and Low.

I'm using string.Format's alignment option so that the output would look nice. What I'd like the output to look like is this:

*Low*    - First message
*Medium* - Second message
*Low*    - Third message

However, what I'm getting is this:

*Low   * - First message
*Medium* - Second message
*Low   * - Third message

I understand why this is happening, but what I'd like to know is whether there's an easy (and correct) way to get the wanted output by using string.Format and without introducing any new variables.

Why not just concatenate the stars around the priority value... "*" + priority + "*" — musefan
– musefan, Commented Mar 15, 2012 at 8:41

Joey · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-15 08:47:03Z

9

string.Format("{0,-8} - {1}", "*" + priority + "*", message);

Or, if you're feeling fancy:

string.Format("{0,-8} - {1}", string.Format("*{0}*", priority), message);
string.Format("{0,-8} - {1}", string.Join(priority, new [] {"*", "*"}), message);

edited Mar 15, 2012 at 8:47

answered Mar 15, 2012 at 8:39

Joey

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4 Comments

bmkorkut Over a year ago

don't forget to make the -6 into -8 :)

Adi Lester Over a year ago

I was hoping there was a way to do this by modifying the first parameter only somehow, as adding *'s to the second parameter makes it a bit confusing to understand what's going to be the eventual output.

Joey Over a year ago

Lester, unless you override ToString() on your Priority class/struct that's not possible, I fear. If it's an enum, then even less so (unless you create a wrapping class with implicit conversion operators and a custom ToString()). Format strings are hardly Turing-complete or intended as general-purpose template engines.

Joey Over a year ago

Also, if you're too concerned that the string concatenation in the second argument masks the intent too much, then I'd say introducing a new variable is really the easiest way of making intent and behaviour clear.

Steve · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-15 08:40:56Z

1

Could you enlarge the first column to 8 spaces?, if so ...

private string FormatMessage(string message, Priority priority) 
{ 
    return string.Format("{0,-8} - {1}", "*" + priority.ToString() + "*", message); 
}

answered Mar 15, 2012 at 8:40

Steve

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