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From: cudcv@warwick.ac.uk (Rob McMahon)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.shell
Subject: Re: adjusting string var to fixed length
Message-ID: <}07_7M$@warwick.ac.uk>
Date: 11 Jun 91 14:38:29 GMT
References: <1991Jun3.181447.12656@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>
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In article <1991Jun3.181447.12656@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> rchattam@isis.cs.du.edu
(King Chattam) writes: 
>I have a shell var (length 0 to 10), which I want always to be output to a
>file as fixed length 10.

Strange no-one has mentioned Chris Torek's `printf':

cudcv@shark [dcv] >% set var = gronk
cudcv@shark [dcv] >% printf "x%10sx\n" $var
x     gronkx
cudcv@shark [dcv] >% printf "x%-10sx\n" $var
xgronk     x
cudcv@shark [dcv] >% 

/*
 * printf - duplicate the C library routine of the same name, but from
 * the shell command level.
 *
 * This version by Chris Torek, based on an earlier version by Fred Blonder.
 */

Cheers,

Rob
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Rob McMahon, Computing Services, Warwick University, Coventry CV4 7AL, England