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→PART 3 - String Formatting Advanced Features
</source>By default, the format() function aligns to the left, the symbol to do this is '''<''' which is a shortcut for : '''{0:<10}''' when used in the curely braces. Now whenever a different string is placed inside it always aligns to the left 10 characters. This allows for concise code to generate well structured output<br><br>
:#To demonstrate this, issue the following:<source>
# Without positional argument numbersprint('{:<10} {:<10} {:<10}\n{:<10} {:<10} {:<10}'.format('abc', 'def', 'ghi', 'jkl123', 'mno123', 'pqr123')) # Without With positional argument numbersprint('{0:<10} {1:<10} {2:<10}\n{3:<10} {4:<10} {5:<10}'.format('abc', 'def', 'ghi', 'jkl123', 'mno123', 'pqr123')) # With positional argument numbers
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:#Next try using right alignment with the '''>''' symbol replacing the left alignment<source>
# Without positional argument numbersprint('{:>10} {:>10} {:>10}\n{:>10} {:>10} {:>10}'.format('abc', 'def', 'ghi', 'jkl123', 'mno123', 'pqr123')) # Without With positional argument numbersprint('{0:>10} {1:>10} {2:>10}\n{3:>10} {4:>10} {5:>10}'.format('abc', 'def', 'ghi', 'jkl123', 'mno123', 'pqr123')) # With positional argument numbers
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:#Finally center alignment with the '''^''' symbol<source>
# Without positional argument numbersprint('{:^10} {:^10} {:^10}\n{:^10} {:^10} {:^10}'.format('abc', 'def', 'ghi', 'jkl123', 'mno123', 'pqr123')) # Without With positional argument numbersprint('{0:^10} {1:^10} {2:^10}\n{3:^10} {4:^10} {5:^10}'.format('abc', 'def', 'ghi', 'jkl123', 'mno123', 'pqr123')) # With positional argument numbers
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:#The alignment character can be changed to any other character that is wanted for the output. By default it's a space, but it could be anything else by adding an additional character '''{:M<10}''' such as '''M''' or '''*''' before the alignment character <source>
