setw a table?

[Eldy Voon]

I having problem with how to make a proper column and hard to understand setw..

// setw example
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <conio.h>
using namespace std;

int main () {
  
  cout << setfill(' ');
  cout << "DATE";
  cout << setw(28) << "AMOUNT SPEND";
  cout << setw(27) << "AMOUNT LEFT";
  
  cout << "\n17/11/2011";
  cout << setw(17) << "-RM1.00"; 
  
  cout << setw(29) << "RM900.00";
  
  getch();
  return 0;
}

It seem ok when I execute it but however when the user input (amount spend) is more digit and also the amount left may change, then everything didn't display in proper column..

[mzimmers]

You'll need to use variables in your setw() calls. Determine the string length of your numeric output, and use that as a basis for your calculations for setw().

[Eldy Voon]

the string length is defined by user. Do you mean set the max possible length?

[mzimmers]

Maybe I didn't understand your question: Here's a mild modification of your program:

// setw example
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;

int main () {
	cout << "00000000001111111112222222222333333333344444444444555555555" << endl;
	cout << "12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789" << endl;
  cout << setfill(' ');
  cout << "DATE";
  cout << setw(28) << "AMOUNT SPEND";
  cout << setw(27) << "AMOUNT LEFT";

  cout << "\n17/11/2011";
  cout << setw(17) << "-RM1.00";

  cout << setw(29) << "RM900.00";

  return 0;
}

All four output lines are 59 characters. Is this not what you wanted?

[Eldy Voon]

nevermind..