Formatting to the Console, C++

Question

Hi, I'm trying to format my output in the console window in four separate fields, all evenly spaced.

out << left << setw(24) << "Name" << "Location" 
<< right << setw(20) << "Acres " << "Rating" << endl;

out << left << setw(24) << "----" << "--------" 
<< right << setw(20) << "----- " << "------" << endl;

while ( current_node )
    {
     out << left << setw(24) << current_node->item.getName() // equivalent tabs dont work?
      << current_node->item.getLocation() << right << setw(20) 
         << current_node->item.getAcres()  
      << " " << current_node->item.getRating()
      << endl;

     current_node = current_node->nextByName;
    }

The code above, for some reason, doesn't space it all evenly when the setw(n) are the same values...

Answer 1

The setw() manipulator affects only the next output field - it's not 'sticky'. So you'll need to specify what you want for each output field, not just change it once and expect it to act on each of the following output items.

I think you want something like:

cout << left << setw(24) << "Name" << setw(24) << "Location" ;
cout << right << setw(20)<< "Acres" << setw(20) << "Rating" << endl;

cout << left << setw(24) << "----" << setw(24) << "--------" ;
cout << right << setw(20) << "-----" << setw(20) << "------"  << endl;

while ( current_node )
    {
        cout << left << setw(24) << current_node->item.getName()
                     << setw(24) << current_node->item.getLocation()
             << right 
                     << setw(20) << current_node->item.getAcres()
                     << setw(20) << current_node->item.getRating()
             << endl;

        current_node = current_node->nextByName;
    }

C++ stream I/O - it's type safe, but sanity unsafe.