lining up numbers in columns

[Babyboomerboy]

Got a small problem. I have a for next routine that prints numbers 5 columns wide and 8 rows down. When it prints out, if one of the numbers is 2 digits, it moves the rest of the numbers on that row off line with the other numbers in that column. I remember several years ago I fixed this problem but I don’t remember how I did it. Any help would be appreciated.

[SMcNeill]

Easiest solution is to probably just use LOCATE.

FOR I = 1 TO 8
   LOCATE I, 1: PRINT I
   LOCATE I, 10: PRINT I * 2
   LOCATE I, 20: PRINT I * 3
   LOCATE I, 30: PRINT I * 4
   LOCATE I, 40: PRINT I * 5
NEXT

If you just want to print without setting the vertical position, just use LOCATE ,

FOR I = 1 TO 8
   LOCATE , 1: PRINT I;
   LOCATE , 10: PRINT I * 2;
   LOCATE , 20: PRINT I * 3;
   LOCATE , 30: PRINT I * 4;
   LOCATE , 40: PRINT I * 5
NEXT

Note: Notice the semi-colons which don’t cause the PRINT to move to a new row, until we want it to at the end.

[Pete]

Do us a favor. Post the code for the for/next loop. I don't understand how a 2-digit number is a problem in a 5-digit column.

Pete

[Babyboomerboy]

I am not very good at explaining my problem. When I run the code I might get 7 3 5 4
                                                                                                                   1 8 12 6
The 12 moved the 6 to the right of the column with the 4.
The 1 lines up under the 7 and the8 lines up under the 3
Here is the code

CLS
LOCATE 20, 15
PRINT
PRINT TAB(14); "        OFX,ETX,STX,FFX,   BTIME,BTIMEA"
FOR TTP = 1 TO 8
    PRINT TAB(15); "DOG"; TTP; "-"; OFX(TTP); " "; ETX(TTP); " "; STX(TTP); " "; FFX(TTP); "     "; BTIMEA%(TTP); " "; BTIMEA(TTP)
NEXT TTP
PRINT " "
PRINT TAB(5); "                  OP, EP, SP, FP,  PTOTAL"
FOR TTP = 1 TO 8

    PRINT TAB(15); "DOG"; TTP; " "; OPOINT(TTP); " "; EPOINT(TTP); " "; SPOINT(TTP); " "; FPOINT(TTP); "       "; POINTTOTALA(TTP)
NEXT TTP
INPUT H

[bplus]

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. FOR row = 1 TO 20
2.     FOR col = 1 TO 10
3.         r$ = STR$(INT((RND * 10 - 5) ^ INT(12 * RND - 6))) 'some wild and crazy numbers
4.         PRINT RIGHT$(SPACE$(8) + r$, 8); '<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< space out numbers on row
5.     NEXT
6.     PRINT
7. NEXT
8.  

[Pete]

Here is an example with your first row/column code, and the code modified with LOCATE and LEN() LTRIM$ and STR$() keywords.

Let me know if this is the kind of alignment you wanted, and if so, I'd be happy to explain how the code woks.

Pete

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. WIDTH 80, 42: _SCREENMOVE 0, 0
2. CLS
3. LOCATE 20, 15
4. PRINT
5. PRINT TAB(14); "        OFX,ETX,STX,FFX,   BTIME,BTIMEA"
6. FOR TTP = 1 TO 8
7.     OFX(TTP) = 7 + TTP: ETX(TTP) = 3 + TTP: STX(TTP) = 5 + TTP: FFX(TTP) = 4 + TTP: BTIMEA%(TTP) = 1 + TTP: BTIMEA(TTP) = 12 + TTP ' Make some test values.
8.     PRINT TAB(15); "DOG"; TTP; "-"; OFX(TTP); " "; ETX(TTP); " "; STX(TTP); " "; FFX(TTP); "     "; BTIMEA%(TTP); " "; BTIMEA(TTP)
9. NEXT TTP
10. PRINT: LOCATE , 15: PRINT "Aligned Columns...": PRINT
11. FOR TTP = 1 TO 8
12.     LOCATE , 15: PRINT ; "DOG"; TTP;: LOCATE , 21: PRINT "-";
13.     LOCATE , 25 - LEN(LTRIM$(STR$(OFX(TTP)))): PRINT LTRIM$(STR$(OFX(TTP)));
14.     LOCATE , 29 - LEN(LTRIM$(STR$(ETX(TTP)))): PRINT LTRIM$(STR$(ETX(TTP)));
15.     LOCATE , 33 - LEN(LTRIM$(STR$(STX(TTP)))): PRINT LTRIM$(STR$(STX(TTP)));
16.     LOCATE , 37 - LEN(LTRIM$(STR$(FFX(TTP)))): PRINT LTRIM$(STR$(FFX(TTP)));
17.     LOCATE , 44 - LEN(LTRIM$(STR$(BTIMEA%(TTP)))): PRINT LTRIM$(STR$(BTIMEA%(TTP)));
18.     LOCATE , 49 - LEN(LTRIM$(STR$(BTIMEA(TTP)))): PRINT LTRIM$(STR$(BTIMEA(TTP)))
19. NEXT TTP
20.  
21. PRINT " "
22. PRINT TAB(5); "                  OP, EP, SP, FP,  PTOTAL"
23. FOR TTP = 1 TO 8
24.  
25.     PRINT TAB(15); "DOG"; TTP; " "; OPOINT(TTP); " "; EPOINT(TTP); " "; SPOINT(TTP); " "; FPOINT(TTP); "       "; POINTTOTALA(TTP)
26. NEXT TTP
27. INPUT H
28.  

[Babyboomerboy]

Thank you SMcNeil, bplus and Pete. I was able to use the code that Pete gave the best for my situation. I moved the columns a little wider and everyone lined up perfect.  You said you could explain how the code works and I would appreciate knowing this as I have learned to code all by myself through trial and error, lots of errors. Thanks again to all

[bplus]

Maybe exposure to more methods would help?

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. RANDOMIZE TIMER
2. SCREEN _NEWIMAGE(800, 600, 32)
3.  
4. 'set column starts for left alignment or column ends for right alignment
5. DIM cTabs(1 TO 4)
6. cTabs(1) = 5
7. cTabs(2) = 15
8. cTabs(3) = 25
9. cTabs(4) = 35
10.  
11.  
12. '  this method gives you left alignment at set column starts
13. PRINT "1234567890123456789012345678901234567890"
14. FOR row = 2 TO 11
15.     LOCATE row, cTabs(1): PRINT -INT(RND * 10)
16.     LOCATE row, cTabs(2): PRINT -INT(RND * 100)
17.     LOCATE row, cTabs(3): PRINT -INT(RND * 1000)
18.     LOCATE row, cTabs(4): PRINT -INT(RND * 10000)
19. NEXT
20.  
21.  
22. ' to get right alignment on columns which is desired for columns of numbers
23.  
24. 'subtract off the LEN() of the item you are about to print when you use LOCATE
25. ' the cTabs become the right side of the cols
26.  
27. LOCATE 13, 1: PRINT "1234567890123456789012345678901234567890"
28. FOR row = 14 TO 25
29.  
30.     n$ = STR$(INT(RND * 10)) 'next number to print
31.  
32.     'subtract it's LEN from cTabs(col)
33.     LOCATE row, cTabs(1) - LEN(n$): PRINT n$
34.  
35.     'repeat for all numbers in row
36.     n$ = STR$(INT(RND * 100))
37.     LOCATE row, cTabs(2) - LEN(n$): PRINT n$
38.     n$ = STR$(INT(RND * 1000))
39.     LOCATE row, cTabs(3) - LEN(n$): PRINT n$
40.     n$ = STR$(INT(RND * 10000))
41.     LOCATE row, cTabs(4) - LEN(n$): PRINT n$
42. NEXT
43.  
44.  

[Pete]

Sure...

STR$() Converts a numeric value to a string.
LTRIM$() stands for Left Trim, which means it trims off any spaces to the left side of a string.

Strings are letters like, A,b,c, and other characters like #, *, etc. Now strings can also be numbers, but here's a big difference. Try the code below...

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. a = 1
2. a$ = "1"
3. PRINT "|"; a; "|"
4. PRINT "|"; a$; "|"
5. PRINT "|"; STR$(a); "|"
6. PRINT "|"; LTRIM$(STR$(a)); "|"
7.  

So printing a number as a numeric variable results in a space in front of the number, and a space in back of the number. Now when we use STR$() to represent the numeric variable as a string, it gets rid of the trailing space, but notice it still keeps that leading space. That space is reserved for a negative sign. See code below...

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. a = -1
2. a$ = "-1"
3. PRINT "|"; a; "|"
4. PRINT "|"; a$; "|"
5. PRINT "|"; STR$(a); "|"
6.  

So if a negative sign was present, it wouldn't need to be "Left Trimmed" but you could still use LTRIM$(STR$(a)) if you want to. I always use it that way, as most of my work contains negative and positive numbers, so I just want one simple way to do it all. So LTRIM$(STR$(a)) makes the 1 just take up one space, instead of 3 spaces, and that is critical to aligning text.

Next, LOCATE...

LOCATE has two variables, ROW,  COLUMN. So why did I leave the ROW part out and write LOCATE , 15 in the code? Well, omitting the ROW variable tells QB64 to locate on the current row. So if I'm on the 10th row,  LOCATE , 15 keeps me on the 10th row, and starts the first text writing space at COLUMN 15. So, no need to write it as LOCATE 10, 15. It's neat typing saver!

Finally, the LEN() statement. LEN() measures the length of your string. Not a big deal if they are all the same length, but let's say the first variable is one space like "7" and in the row below it, the next variable is: "53" So the first variable has LEN("1") = 1 character in length, and the second LEN("53") would be 2-characters long. If we wanted to line up the variables, so they all end at column 9 we would need...

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. LOCATE , 10 - LEN(LTRIM$(STR$(7))): PRINT "7"
2. LOCATE , 10 - LEN(LTRIM$(STR$(53))): PRINT "53"

So the first statement starts at the current row at column 10 - length of the number 7, which is 10 - 1 or 9. It then prints 1 at column 9. Notice the PRINT statement is not followed by a semi-colon as in PRINT; so just PRINT alone tells QB64 to print and move down to the next row. A semi-colon added would tell it to stay on the same row. So since we omitted a semi-colon, we printed 7 and we are now on the next row, below. The second statement locates on that row at column 10 - 2, because our next number, 53, has a length of 2-characters. We use LTRIM$(STR$(53)) to get rid of the leading and trailing spaces. So the 5 of the 53 gets printed at column 8 (10 - 2) and the 3 ends up at column 9, the same column the number 7 is printed in, in the row above.

I hope this makes sense. If not, just ask.

Pete




 

[bplus]

Dang! I keep forgetting about the space on the right, left from STR$(number) (including my last snippet above, which explains why the numbers weren't finishing exactly on the cTab() value).

Best to TRIM$(STR$(number)) with a newer version of QB64

[FellippeHeitor]

_TRIM it is :-)

[bplus]

Thanks Fellippe,

Where is that right space when you are looking for it?

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. _TITLE "Test _TRIM$"
2. n = 42.
3. ns$ = STR$(42)
4. nts$ = _TRIM$(ns$)
5. PRINT LEN(ns$), "*"; ns$; "*"
6. PRINT LEN(nts$), "*"; nts$; "*"
7.  

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. _TITLE "Test _TRIM$"
2. n = 42.
3. ns$ = STR$(n)
4. nts$ = _TRIM$(ns$)
5. PRINT LEN(ns$), "*"; ns$; "*"
6. PRINT LEN(nts$), "*"; nts$; "*"

[SMcNeill]

And remember simple little TAB...

[RadioHacktive]

"Print using" does not work? http://qb64.org/wiki/PRINT_USING

[bplus]

Wait, where did I get this idea of there being a space on the right of a STR$(number)?

To get a number to right align on column x it is: LOCATE ,  x - LEN(STR$(number)) + 1

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. RANDOMIZE TIMER
2. SCREEN _NEWIMAGE(800, 600, 32)
3.  
4. 'set column starts for left alignment or column ends for right alignment
5. DIM cTabs(1 TO 4)
6. cTabs(1) = 5
7. cTabs(2) = 15
8. cTabs(3) = 25
9. cTabs(4) = 35
10.  
11.  
12. ' to get right alignment on columns which is desired for columns of numbers
13.  
14. 'subtract off the LEN() of the item you are about to print when you use LOCATE
15. ' the cTabs become the right side of the cols
16.  
17. LOCATE 13, 1: PRINT "1234567890123456789012345678901234567890"
18. FOR row = 14 TO 25
19.  
20.     n$ = STR$(INT(RND * 10)) 'next number to print
21.  
22.     'subtract it's LEN from cTabs(col)
23.     LOCATE row, cTabs(1) - LEN(n$) + 1: PRINT n$
24.  
25.     'repeat for all numbers in row
26.     n$ = STR$(INT(RND * 100))
27.     LOCATE row, cTabs(2) - LEN(n$) + 1: PRINT n$
28.     n$ = STR$(INT(RND * 1000))
29.     LOCATE row, cTabs(3) - LEN(n$) + 1: PRINT n$
30.     n$ = STR$(INT(RND * 10000))
31.     LOCATE row, cTabs(4) - LEN(n$) + 1: PRINT n$
32. NEXT
33.  

"Print using" does not work? http://qb64.org/wiki/PRINT_USING

Save that for REAL Numbers! ;-))