Pad strings in .NET · idiomatic C#

Use one of the following System.String methods to create a new string that consists of an original string that is padded with leading or trailing characters to a specified total length. The padding character can be a space or a specified character. The resulting string appears to be either right-aligned or left-aligned. If the original string's length is already equal to or greater than the desired total length, the padding methods return the original string unchanged; for more information, see the Returns sections of the two overloads of the System.String.PadLeft and System.String.PadRight methods.

Method name	Use
System.String.PadLeft	Pads a string with leading characters to a specified total length.
System.String.PadRight	Pads a string with trailing characters to a specified total length.

PadLeft

The System.String.PadLeft method creates a new string by concatenating enough leading pad characters to an original string to achieve a specified total length. The System.String.PadLeft%28System.Int32%29 method uses white space as the padding character and the System.String.PadLeft%28System.Int32%2CSystem.Char%29 method enables you to specify your own padding character.

The following code example uses the System.String.PadLeft method to create a new string that is twenty characters long. The example displays "--------Hello World!" to the console.

sample · csharpsamples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_CLR/conceptual.string.basicops/cs/padding.cs3

csharp

// <snippet2>
using System;

class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        PadLeft();
        PadRight();
    }

    public static void PadLeft()
    {
        // <snippet3>
        string MyString = "Hello World!";
        Console.WriteLine(MyString.PadLeft(20, '-'));
        // </snippet3>
    }

    public static void PadRight()
    {
        // <snippet4>
        string MyString = "Hello World!";
        Console.WriteLine(MyString.PadRight(20, '-'));
        // </snippet4>
    }
}
// </snippet2>

sample · vbsamples/snippets/visualbasic/VS_Snippets_CLR/conceptual.string.basicops/vb/padding.vb3

Option Strict On

' <snippet2>
Class Example
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        PadLeft()
        PadRight()
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub PadLeft()
        ' <snippet3>
        Dim MyString As String = "Hello World!"
        Console.WriteLine(MyString.PadLeft(20, "-"c))
        ' </snippet3>
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub PadRight()
        ' <snippet4>
        Dim MyString As String = "Hello World!"
        Console.WriteLine(MyString.PadRight(20, "-"c))
        ' </snippet4>
    End Sub
End Class
' </snippet2>

PadRight

The System.String.PadRight method creates a new string by concatenating enough trailing pad characters to an original string to achieve a specified total length. The System.String.PadRight%28System.Int32%29 method uses white space as the padding character and the System.String.PadRight%28System.Int32%2CSystem.Char%29 method enables you to specify your own padding character.

The following code example uses the System.String.PadRight method to create a new string that is twenty characters long. The example displays "Hello World!--------" to the console.

sample · csharpsamples/snippets/csharp/VS_Snippets_CLR/conceptual.string.basicops/cs/padding.cs4

csharp

// <snippet2>
using System;

class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        PadLeft();
        PadRight();
    }

    public static void PadLeft()
    {
        // <snippet3>
        string MyString = "Hello World!";
        Console.WriteLine(MyString.PadLeft(20, '-'));
        // </snippet3>
    }

    public static void PadRight()
    {
        // <snippet4>
        string MyString = "Hello World!";
        Console.WriteLine(MyString.PadRight(20, '-'));
        // </snippet4>
    }
}
// </snippet2>

sample · vbsamples/snippets/visualbasic/VS_Snippets_CLR/conceptual.string.basicops/vb/padding.vb4

Option Strict On

' <snippet2>
Class Example
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        PadLeft()
        PadRight()
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub PadLeft()
        ' <snippet3>
        Dim MyString As String = "Hello World!"
        Console.WriteLine(MyString.PadLeft(20, "-"c))
        ' </snippet3>
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub PadRight()
        ' <snippet4>
        Dim MyString As String = "Hello World!"
        Console.WriteLine(MyString.PadRight(20, "-"c))
        ' </snippet4>
    End Sub
End Class
' </snippet2>

#PadLeft

#PadRight

PadLeft

PadRight