Question

I am writing a Text file with php using mysql db fields, which are dynamic in nature. I am unable to keep the column width intact, pl see the below data and columns to get a better idea of what I mean.

Text file output:

                450 65445 90900 87954          112
              90900 45875 24565 15484          KA01 23232

php script for the above:

$myFile = "testFile.txt";
$fh = fopen($myFile, 'w') or die("can't open file");

if ($quer2[DCNO1]>0){fwrite($fh, str_pad($quer2[DCNO1],19, " ", STR_PAD_LEFT));} if ($quer2[DCNO2]>0) {fwrite($fh, str_pad($quer2[DCNO2],6, " ", STR_PAD_LEFT));} if ($quer2[DCNO3]>0) {fwrite($fh, str_pad($quer2[DCNO3],6, " ", STR_PAD_LEFT));} if ($quer2[DCNO4]>0) {fwrite($fh, str_pad($quer2[DCNO4],6, " ", STR_PAD_LEFT));} 
fwrite($fh, str_pad($dchd2['PO_No'],13, " ", STR_PAD_LEFT));
$stringData = "\n";
fwrite($fh, $stringData);

if ($quer2[DCNO5]>0) {fwrite($fh, str_pad($quer2[DCNO5],19, " ", STR_PAD_LEFT));} if ($quer2[DCNO6]>0) {fwrite($fh, str_pad($quer2[DCNO6],6, " ", STR_PAD_LEFT));} if ($quer2[DCNO7]>0) {fwrite($fh, str_pad($quer2[DCNO7],6, " ", STR_PAD_LEFT));} if ($quer2[DCNO8]>0) {fwrite($fh, str_pad($quer2[DCNO8],6, " ", STR_PAD_LEFT));}
fwrite($fh, str_pad($dchd2['Vehicle_no'],20, " ", STR_PAD_LEFT));
$stringData = "\n";
fwrite($fh, $stringData);

fclose($fh);

Now if one value in the column is 0 then the space gets removed because of my IF condition, in such a situation, how do i calculate the space and give those extra spaces.

text file output if one of the values are 0 in my IF condition:

                450 90900           112
              90900 45875 24565 15484          KA01 23232

Answer 1

Use tab stops (“\t”). It ensures each item on different lines start on the same columns.

It means that when item is 2 chars long and can’t fill the 4 space tab, 2 whitespaces are added.

Bear in mind: different editors have different notions for tabs, some typically insert spaces instead of tabs.

Edit: Actually more simple solution will be to have an else clause and write str_pad(“”, 20);