Question

I’m trying to format my output to look like it’s in columns. I’m trying to use the printf function.

Here’s what I have:

printf("%s %10s %12s %10s\n", "Qty", "Desc.", "Unit \$", "Total");

for ($he = 0; $he <= 6; $he++) {
    if (@quantity[$he] != 0) {
        printf("%d %10s %12.2f %10.2f\n", @quantity[$he], @selections[$he], @prices[$he], @prices[$he] * @quantity[$he])
    }
}

I’m trying to make it so that the second printf inside of the if statement of the for loop lines up with the “Qty”, “Desc.”, “Unit \$” and “Total.”

Answer 1

You need to use the same numbers in the two formats:

printf("%3s %10s %15s %13s\n", "Qty", "Desc.", "Unit \$", "Total");

and

printf("%3d %10s %12.2f %10.2f\n", @quantity[$he], @selections[$he], @prices[$he], @prices[$he]*@quantity[$he])

Note that 12.2 means (12 digits + 1 point + 2 digits), which is why I wrote 15 in the first format. The same goes for the 13.

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Also note that you’re accessing array elements incorrectly.

Instead of @quantity[$he] use $quantity[$he]. That is, replace the @ with a $.