Format specification with format in Python (1)

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*Memo:

• My post explains format specification with format() (2).
• My post explains format specification with format() (3).
• My post explains format specification with format() (4).
• My post explains format specification with format() (5).
• My post explains format().

:[f][a][s][z][#][0][w][g][.p][t] can format a string with format() as shown below:

*Memo:

• Format Specification Mini-Language explains more.
• : must be used with f, a, s, z, #, 0, w, g, .p or t.
• f(fill) is the zero or one character to fill the left and/or right side of the padding of the string set w.
• a(align) is to align(justify) a string with ^, <, > or =:
  • ^ can center a string.
  • < can left-align(left-justify) a string.
  • > can right-align(right-justify) a string.
  • = can right-align(right-justify) a string only with int or float input:
    • Padding is added between + or - and input.
• s(sign) is +, - or " " which can be used only with int, float or complex input:
  • + indicates that a sign should be used with both positive and negative numbers.
  • - indicates that a sign should be used only with negative numbers, which is the default if s isn't set.
  • " " indicates that a leading space should be used with positive numbers and a minus sign should be used with negative numbers.
• z converts a negative zero to a positive zero:
  • It can be used only with float or complex input.
• # converts a string to other form:
  • It can be used only with int, float or complex input.
• 0 fills the left and/or right side of the padding of the string set w with 0:
  • It's equivalent to the f character 0.
• w(width) is the width of a string:
  • Padding is added if w is longer than the length of the original string:
    • For ^, padding starts to be added from the right side of a string if w is oddly longer than the length of the original string.
  • It must be 0 <= int if it's set.
  • If it's not set, alignment doesn't occur.
• g(grouping) separates digits with , or _:
  • It can be used only with int, float or complex input.
  • Decimal() can be used only with ,.
• .p(.precision) is the scale or precision of a number or the number of the characters of a string:
  • Scale means the number of the digits after the decimal point:
    • Scale is also called decimal part or fractional part.
  • Precision means the total number of the digits before and after the decimal point.
  • For f or F of t(type), scale is decided:
    • Scale is displayed even if they are zero.
  • For g or G of t(type), precision is decided as much as possible:
    • The digits after the decimal point aren't displayed if they are zero.
  • For s, the number of characters is decided.
• t(type) decides how data must be presented with s for str input, b, c, d, o, x, X or n for int input or e, E, f, F, g, G, n or % for int, float, complex or Decimal() input:
  • s is string format:
    • If t isn't set for str input, t is default to s.
  • d is decimal integer:
    • If t isn't set for int input, t is default to d.
  • f is fixed-point notation:
    • If .p is set, scale is .p digits.
    • If .p isn't set, scale is 6 digits for int, float or complex and scale is the original digits for Decimal().
    • If .0 is set, scale is omitted unless # is set.
    • Unnecessary zeros in scale aren't removed.
    • If .p is less than scale, the value is rounded.
  • F is same as f except that uppercase NAN and INF are used.
  • g is general format:
    • If .p is set, precision is .p digits.
    • If .p isn't set, precision is 6 digits for int, float or complex and precision is the original digits for Decimal().
    • .0 is treated as .1.
    • Unnecessary zeros in scale are removed.
    • If .p is less than precision, the value is rounded.
    • If .p is less than integer part(the number of the digits before the decimal point), a scientific notation is used.
  • G is same as g except that uppercase E, INFINITY and NAN are used.
  • If t isn't set for float or complex, g-like operation is done.
  • If t isn't set for Decimal(), g or G is set, depending on the value of context.capitals.
  • Decimal() should be used with str to get a proper value.
  • The doc explains other types like b, c, d, etc.
• If both f and 0 are set, f is prioritized.
• If both f and 0 aren't set, the default is " ".
• f=0 and/or 0 cannot be used with complex input.

<Put everything all together>:

v = -0.0

print('"{:0>-z#010_.0f}"'.format(v))
print('"{:0>-z#10_.0f}"'.format(v))
print('"{:>-z#010_.0f}"'.format(v))
# "000000000."

print('"{0:0>-z#010_.0f}"'.format(v))
print('"{0:0>-z#10_.0f}"'.format(v))
print('"{0:>-z#010_.0f}"'.format(v))
# "000000000."

print('"{:0>-z#010_.0f}" "{:0>-z#10_.0f}" "{:>-z#010_.0f}"'.format(v, v, v))
print('"{0:0>-z#010_.0f}" "{1:0>-z#10_.0f}" "{2:>-z#010_.0f}"'.format(v, v, v))
# "000000000." "000000000." "000000000."

<Center a string with '^'>:

*Memo:

• It's like center().

v = "John Smith"

print('"{:^20}"'.format(v))
print('"{: ^20}"'.format(v))
# "     John Smith     "
#  ↑↑↑↑↑          ↑↑↑↑↑

print('"{:?^20}"'.format(v))
# "?????John Smith?????"

print('"{:?^17}"'.format(v))
# "???John Smith????"

print('"{:?^14}"'.format(v))
# "??John Smith??"

print('"{:?^13}"'.format(v))
# "?John Smith??"

print('"{:?^12}"'.format(v))
# "?John Smith?"

print('"{:?^11}"'.format(v))
# "John Smith?"

print('"{:?^10}"'.format(v))
print('"{:?^0}"'.format(v))
print('"{:?^}"'.format(v))
print('"{:^}"'.format(v))
print('"{:}"'.format(v))
print('"{}"'.format(v))
# "John Smith"

v = "   John Smith   "
   # ↑↑↑          ↑↑↑

print('"{:?^0}"'.format(v))
# "   John Smith   "
#  ↑↑↑          ↑↑↑

print('"{:?^20}"'.format(v))
# "??   John Smith   ??"
#    ↑↑↑          ↑↑↑

<Left-align a string with '<'>:

*Memo:

• It's like ljust().

v = "John Smith"

print('"{:<20}"'.format(v))
print('"{: <20}"'.format(v))
# "John Smith          "
#            ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑

print('"{:?<20}"'.format(v))
# "John Smith??????????"

print('"{:?<17}"'.format(v))
# "John Smith???????"

print('"{:?<14}"'.format(v))
# "John Smith????"

print('"{:?<13}"'.format(v))
# "John Smith???"

print('"{:?<12}"'.format(v))
# "John Smith??"

print('"{:?<11}"'.format(v))
# "John Smith?"

print('"{:?<10}"'.format(v))
print('"{:?<0}"'.format(v))
print('"{:?<}"'.format(v))
print('"{:<}"'.format(v))
print('"{:}"'.format(v))
print('"{}"'.format(v))
# "John Smith"

v = "   John Smith   "
   # ↑↑↑          ↑↑↑

print('"{:?<0}"'.format(v))
# "   John Smith   "
#  ↑↑↑          ↑↑↑

print('"{:?<20}"'.format(v))
# "   John Smith   ????"
#  ↑↑↑          ↑↑↑