Getting PHP variables to display fixed length

[Japhy]

Hello,
I am coding a menu using PHP. Selections on the menu have code like :

<li> <a href="Updatefindatesedit.php">$fin_name1 $fin_date1 </a></li>
<li> <a href="Updatefindatesedit.php">$fin_name2 $fin_date2 </a></li>
etc
My problem is the $fin_name1 variables can be anywhere from 1 - 20
characters

so my menu items come out looking like
Joe 2000/01/01
Fred 2001/01/02
Alexander 2001/01/03

Can I get the $fin_name* variable to take up a fixed amount of space
when displaying? My idea is to use strlen on fin_name and put a number
of &nbsp's between, but that sure seems like a dumb way to do it. I
figure someone with more knowledge can tell me an easier way to do
it....
TIA
Japhy

[ZeldorBlat]

You want str_pad() :

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.str-pad.php

[Jeff North]

On 28 Oct 2005 20:00:11 -0700, in comp.lang.php "Japhy"
<ja************@yahoo.com> wrote:

| Hello,
| I am coding a menu using PHP. Selections on the menu have code like :
|
| <li> <a href="Updatefindatesedit.php">$fin_name1 $fin_date1 </a></li>
| <li> <a href="Updatefindatesedit.php">$fin_name2 $fin_date2 </a></li>
| etc
|
|
| My problem is the $fin_name1 variables can be anywhere from 1 - 20
| characters
|
| so my menu items come out looking like
| Joe 2000/01/01
| Fred 2001/01/02
| Alexander 2001/01/03
|
| Can I get the $fin_name* variable to take up a fixed amount of space
| when displaying? My idea is to use strlen on fin_name and put a number
| of &nbsp's between, but that sure seems like a dumb way to do it. I
| figure someone with more knowledge can tell me an easier way to do
| it....

You might have to re-think the layout. HTML will automatically remove
extraneous spaces. You will need to use &nbsp; for padding.

Also, you will need to use a fixed width font i.e. monospace.
<li style="font-family: monospace"> <a
href="Updatefindatesedit.php">$fin_name1 $fin_date1 </a></li>

Alternatively, use a table for the layout.
---------------------------------------------------------------
jn******@yourpantsyahoo.com.au : Remove your pants to reply
---------------------------------------------------------------

[Ian B]

What do you want to do?
* Stretch the text (probably not a good idea)
* Left justify the name and right justify the date? (A table is
probably easiest)
* Have the whole width clickable (set the width of the <a> and have a
background colour which makes this obvious)

Ian

[VS]

Japhy wrote:

<li> <a href="Updatefindatesedit.php">$fin_name1 $fin_date1 </a></li>
<li> <a href="Updatefindatesedit.php">$fin_name2 $fin_date2 </a></li>
etc
My problem is the $fin_name1 variables can be anywhere from 1 - 20
characters

so my menu items come out looking like
Joe 2000/01/01
Fred 2001/01/02
Alexander 2001/01/03

Why not use a table ??

--
VS

[boclair]

Japhy wrote:

Hello,
I am coding a menu using PHP. Selections on the menu have code like :

<li> <a href="Updatefindatesedit.php">$fin_name1 $fin_date1 </a></li>
<li> <a href="Updatefindatesedit.php">$fin_name2 $fin_date2 </a></li>
etc
My problem is the $fin_name1 variables can be anywhere from 1 - 20
characters

so my menu items come out looking like
Joe 2000/01/01
Fred 2001/01/02
Alexander 2001/01/03

Can I get the $fin_name* variable to take up a fixed amount of space
when displaying? My idea is to use strlen on fin_name and put a number
of &nbsp's between, but that sure seems like a dumb way to do it. I
figure someone with more knowledge can tell me an easier way to do
it....
TIA
Japhy

Can I suggest that the date needs to be moved to a known position to the
right of the name and that sufficient space be provided for the longest
name. An html table is one way. The other is CSS, eg,
<ul>

<li style="width:12em;">
<div style="float:right;width:4px;text-align:right;">yyyy/mm/dd</div>
fin_name
</li>
<li style="width:12em;">
<div style="float:right;width:4px;text-align:right;">yyyy/mm/dd</div>
fin_longer-name</li>

</ul>

adjust the width of the containing div and the float div to suit.

Ideally the css declarations will be in selectors in a style block or
style sheet, e.g.

<style type="text/css">
ul.name-date li { width:12em; }
ul.name-date li div { float:right;width:4px;text-align:right; }
</style>

</head>

<body>

<ul class="name-date">

<li>
<div>yyyy/mm/dd</div>
fin_name
</li>
<li>
<div>yyyy/mm/dd</div>
fin_longer-name</li>

</ul>

Louise

[Japhy]

Thanks to all who replied. You've given me a lot of options to
explore.
As for using a table, I got the idea for the menu at Dynamic Drive, and
didn't want to mess
with the 'design' too much.
Thanks again to all!