how to align things

[kenvin100]

hi im new here and to java..im supposed to output a receipt that aligns the prices to the right. Since im new, i only know the basics. I was given a clue on how to do this:

Strin someString = "Hello there, kenny.";
int numChars = someString.leng th();

so basically i need to find a way to align prices to the right, keeping in mind the length of the item and and length of the price..any ideas will be most appreciated

[kenvin100]

oh yeah..so basically wat i learned so far are if statements and loops (and delcaring stuff of course)

[r035198x]

oh yeah..so basically wat i learned so far are if statements and loops (and delcaring stuff of course)

Assuming you want to right align things on the console, you can play around with the length of the strings as follows.

Suppose you want the prices to appear at 60 spaces from the left of the console

For each item, you get the length of the item's name using the method you were give above.

int l = item.length();
Then you get how many spaces you need to add using
int spaces = 60 - l;

So when printing item item1 and its price, You print the item name, then you print spaces spaces, then you print the item's price and go to the next line. If you do this for all the items, you will always get the prices aligned 60 spaces form the left of the screen assuming the names of the items are not more than 60 characters long

[kenvin100]

[QUOTE=r035198x]Assuming you want to right align things on the console, you can play around with the length of the strings as follows.

so for the output, wat do i put exactly..s.o.pl n (item + space)

[r035198x]

[QUOTE=kenvin100]

Assuming you want to right align things on the console, you can play around with the length of the strings as follows.

so for the output, wat do i put exactly..s.o.pl n (item + space)

String space = "";
for(int i = 0 ;i < spaces; i++) {
     space = space + " ";
}
System.out.println(item + space + price);

[kenvin100]

k thx for your help..gonna try it now

[kenvin100]

u kno where u put space as the output, am i supposed to put a number there or space..cause i declared space and it doesn't work

[kenvin100]

my code doesnt seem to work...let me show u..


String out = "";
int space = 17-1;
for(int i = 0 ;i < 17; i++) {
out = " ";
}

is this rite?

[r035198x]

u kno where u put space as the output, am i supposed to put a number there or space..cause i declared space and it doesn't work

what does the error say

[kenvin100]

there's no error it's just that its not spacing..

[r035198x]

String item = "something";
double price = 20.0;
int spaces = 50 - item.length();

String space = ""; //declare the variable space
for(int i = 0 ;i < spaces; i++) {
     space = space + " "; //
}
System.out.println(item + space + price);

[kenvin100]

+ if i declare a space as 17-1, the output shows 17, i kno its an int but there should be a way to solve this..

[kenvin100]

and "space" and "spaces" are two different things..

[kenvin100]

it works a little but there's still some problem..appara ntly items with larger names arent jusitifed..subt raction sign is space

item---------------------------- quantity@price. ..
item------------------------------------------------------------quantity@price. ..

see the problem?

[kenvin100]

of course the second name is longer..