Formatting an output into neat columns

[CozyLizard]

Hey Everyone! First time posting...still very new to this programming game! :D

Anywho, this is a payroll program, and I want it to output into nice neat columns. I've monkeyed around a lot with the setw (as that's the only way I can think of to space thing besides the " " way. Any help would be much appreciated! This is for an assignment btw.

  #include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;

int main() {


	//Develop Variables
	int empId[100];
	string fName[100], lName[100];
	int hourWork[100], hourRate[100];
    double gp[100], overhours[100], taxamt[100], overtimepay[100], netpay[100];
	const double taxrate = .07;
    int j = 0;

	
	//Ask for Employee ID, First Name, Last Name, Hours Worked, and Hourly Rate in a loop (for 2)
	while (j<=1)
	{
		cout << "Please Enter 4-Digit Employee ID." << endl;
		cin >> empId[j];
		cout << "Please Enter First Name." << endl;
		cin >> fName[j];
		cout << "Please Enter Last Name." << endl;
		cin >> lName[j];
		cout << "Please Enter Hours Worked." << endl;
		cin >> hourWork[j];
		cout << "Please Enter Hourly Rate:" << endl;
		cin >> hourRate[j];
		cout<<""<<endl;
		

		j = j + 1; 
   }
        j = 0;
	
   //Compute in a loop for each entered
	
    while (j<=1)
	{
          if (hourWork[j]>40)
          {
                            
                    overtimepay[j]=overhours[j]*(hourRate[j]*1.5);
                    gp[j]= overtimepay[j]+ (hourWork[j]*hourRate[j]);
                    taxamt[j]=gp[j]*taxrate;
                    netpay[j]= gp[j]-taxamt[j];
                    
                    }
                    else
                    {
                               gp[j]=hourWork[j]*hourRate[j];
                               taxamt[j]=gp[j]*taxrate;
                               netpay[j]=gp[j]-taxamt[j];
                               }
                               
                               j=j+1;}
                               
                      j = 0;
      
		//Display company title & Column Names
		cout << setw(55) << "Dr. Ebrahimi's Payroll Program" << endl;
		cout << setw(45) << "106 Easy Ways" << endl;
		cout << setw(52) << "Pleasantville, N.Y. 11068" << endl;
        cout<<""<<endl;
		cout<<left<<setw(10)<<"|First"<<setw(10)<<"|Last"<<setw(10)<<"|H.W."<<setw(10)<<"|H.R."
        <<setw(10)<<"|G.P."<<setw(10)<<"|Taxes"<<setw(10)<<"|NetPay"<<endl;
        cout<<""<<endl;
		
	
    	//Output calculations in tabular form
	while (j<=2)
    { 
          	cout<<left<<""<<fName[j]<<setw(10)<<""<<lName[j]<<setw(5)<<""<<hourWork[j]<<
              setw(5)<<""<<hourRate[j]<<setw(5)<<""<<gp[j]<<setw(5)<<""<<taxamt[j]<<setw(5)
              <<""<<netpay[j]<<endl;
            cout<<""<<endl;		
		
		j=j+1;
		
    }
		system ("pause");
	
       
    return 0;
	}

[Chervil]

It helps if the code is laid out in an easy-to-read manner. Sometimes splitting the output statement over multiple lines like this can make it easier to read:

    cout << left 
         << setw(10) << "|First" 
         << setw(10) << "|Last" 
         << setw(10) << "|H.W." 
         << setw(10) << "|H.R."
         << setw(10) << "|G.P."
         << setw(10) << "|Taxes" 
         << setw(10) << "|NetPay"
         << endl;

Now we can see the width of each column it is easy enough to set the detail lines of the report to a similar spacing:

        cout << left 
             << setw(10) << fName[j] 
             << setw(10) << lName[j] 
             << setw(10) << hourWork[j]
             << setw(10) << hourRate[j] 
             << setw(10) << gp[j] 
             << setw(10) << taxamt[j] 
             << setw(10) << netpay[j] 
             << endl;

Though you might consider this, use left-align for the names and right-align for the numbers. That will change the layout, so adjust the column headings accordingly.

    cout <<  fixed << setprecision(2); // need once only
     
    cout << left
         << setw(10) << fName[j] 
         << setw(10) << lName[j]
         << right 
         << setw(10) << hourWork[j]
         << setw(10) << hourRate[j] 
         << setw(10) << gp[j] 
         << setw(10) << taxamt[j] 
         << setw(10) << netpay[j] 
         << endl;

[JLBorges]

Maintenance (fine tuning the format) is a lot easier if we do not have magic values in the code.

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <iomanip>

int main()
{
    // arbitrary test data, test repeats the same data thrice
    std::string fname = "Ebenezer" ;
    std::string lname = "Scrooge" ;
    int hourWork = 23 ;
    int hourRate = 5 ;
    double gp = 123.48501 ;
    double taxamt = 2.4392 ;
    double netpay = 121.04579 ;
    
    // values for controlling format
    const int name_width = 15 ;
    const int int_width = 7 ;
    const int dbl_width = 12 ;
    const int num_flds = 7 ;
    const std::string sep = " |" ;
    const int total_width = name_width*2 + int_width*2 + dbl_width*3 + sep.size() * num_flds ;
    const std::string line = sep + std::string( total_width-1, '-' ) + '|' ;

    std::cout << line << '\n' << sep
              << std::setw(name_width) << "first name" << sep << std::setw(name_width) << "last name" << sep
              << std::setw(int_width) << "hours" << sep << std::setw(int_width) << "rate" << sep
              << std::setw(dbl_width) << "gross pay" << sep << std::setw(dbl_width) << "tax" << sep
              << std::setw(dbl_width) << "net pay" << sep << '\n' << line << '\n' ;

    for( int i = 0 ; i < 3 ; ++i )
    {
        std::cout << sep << std::setw(name_width) << fname << sep << std::setw(name_width) << lname << sep
                  << std::setw(int_width) << hourWork << sep << std::setw(int_width) << hourRate << sep
                  << std::fixed << std::setprecision(2)
                  << std::setw(dbl_width) << gp << sep << std::setw(dbl_width) << taxamt << sep
                  << std::setw(dbl_width) << netpay << sep << '\n' ;
    }
    std::cout << line << '\n' ;
}

 |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 |     first name |      last name |  hours |   rate |   gross pay |         tax |     net pay |
 |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 |       Ebenezer |        Scrooge |     23 |      5 |      123.49 |        2.44 |      121.05 |
 |       Ebenezer |        Scrooge |     23 |      5 |      123.49 |        2.44 |      121.05 |
 |       Ebenezer |        Scrooge |     23 |      5 |      123.49 |        2.44 |      121.05 |
 |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

http://rextester.com/VIAUU19057

[CozyLizard]

This worked perfectly. The way you aligned the << made a lot of sense for readability!
Thank you!