Question

How can I print an string with padding in C++? Specifically what I want is:

cout << "something in one line (no prefix padding)"
cout << "something in another line (no prefix padding)"
set_padding(4)
    cout << "something with padding"
    cout << "something with padding"
set_padding(8)
        cout << "something with padding"
        cout << "something with padding"

That is, I’ll call cout many times and I don’t want to call setw(len) << "" all the time.

Answer 1

I suppose you could just make the pre-processor type it for you:

#include <iostream>
#define mout std::cout << std::string(width,' ')
#define mndl "\n" << std::string(width,' ')

int width=0;

int main()
{
    mout << "Hello" << std::endl; 

    width = 8;

    mout << "World." << mndl << "Next line--still indented";
    // more indented lines...
}