Setting width in C++ output stream

Question

I\'m trying to create a neatly formatted table on C++ by setting the width of the different fields. I can use setw(n), doing something like

cout << set         


        

Answer 1

I know this is still making the same call, but I know of no other solution from what I am getting from your question.

#define COUT std::cout.width(10);std::cout<<

int main()
{
    std::cout.fill( '.' );

    COUT "foo" << std::endl;
    COUT "bar" << std::endl;

    return 0;
}

Output:

..........foo
..........bar

Answer 2

You can create an object that overloads operator<< and contains an iostream object that will automatically call setw internally. For instance:

class formatted_output
{
    private:
        int width;
        ostream& stream_obj;

    public:
        formatted_output(ostream& obj, int w): width(w), stream_obj(obj) {}

        template<typename T>
        formatted_output& operator<<(const T& output)
        {
            stream_obj << setw(width) << output;

            return *this;
        }

        formatted_output& operator<<(ostream& (*func)(ostream&))
        {
            func(stream_obj);
            return *this;
        }
};

You can now call it like the following:

formatted_output field_output(cout, 10);
field_output << x << y << endl;

Answer 3

why not just create a function?

pseudocode e.g.

void format_cout(text, w) {
 cout << text << width(w);
}

That's a bit scrappy but hopefully you get the idea.