How can I fill out a Python string with spaces?

Question

I want to fill out a string with spaces. I know that the following works for zero\'s:

>>> print  \"\'%06d\'\"%4
\'000004\'

But wha

Answer 1

Use Python 2.7's mini formatting for strings:

'{0: <8}'.format('123')

This left aligns, and pads to 8 characters with the ' ' character.