Java - how do I set a length of a string

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I want to set a length to my String, as I want the different elements of my ArrayList, displayed by a JList, to be aligned correctly.

Here is an image of the problem: https://prnt.sc/k7vg91

What I have tried:

I tried using this while loop, but the element in the JList are not lining up properly.
nameBoisson is the String I'm using.

public String toString()
    {
        while (nameBoisson.length() <49)
        {
            nameBoisson = nameBoisson + " ";
        }
        return nameBoisson +prixDeVente +" € " +conditionnement +"L";
    }

Posted 17-Jul-18 21:54pm

Nondikass

Updated 17-Jul-18 23:12pm

v3

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2 solutions

Solution 1

You may use String.format for the purpose, see, for instance: Java String.format examples[^].

Posted 17-Jul-18 22:09pm

CPallini

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Jochen Arndt · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-17T22:11:00

You have to use a fixed width font (Monospaced font - Wikipedia[^]) like Courier to show properly aligned text tables. How to select such depends on the used output method.

This uses a fixed width font:

Item     Price
AnItem   €    13.49
Another  €   127.80

The same using a proportional font:

Item     Price
AnItem   €    13.49
Another  €   127.80

[EDIT]
Overlooked the JList.
To set the font use something like

Java

myList.setFont(new Font(Font.MONOSPACED, Font.PLAIN, 12));

To format the line strings use String.format as suggested in solution 1:

Java

String strLine = String.format("%-49s% 10.2f € ", nameBoisson, prixDevente);

Here %-49s prints a string left aligned with trailing spaces up to a total length of 49 characters and % 10.2f prints a floating point value right aligned with a total length of 10 characters, 2 digits after the decimal point, and a leading space for positive values.
[/EDIT]