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+:source-highlighter: highlight.js
+
+To print tabulated fields in plain text I first divide the desired ouput by the
+number of columns each field should take. For example:
+
+----
+ dni name birdthdate
+ 12345678 Ana Allen 12/10/1998
+<- 12 col -><------ 24 col --------><- 12 col ->
+----
+
+I like to use multiples of 4, but multiples of 8 or 10 are good options too.
+The nice thing about 4 is that it aligns with my text editor's default tabstop
+setting. It helps when writting report headers.
+
+NOTE: Left-aligned fields after a right-aligned field need a space in
+ between. I like to just add the space to all left-aligned fields.
+
+WARNING: Macros are useful, but don't abuse them. They are hard to debug.
+
+Example implementation:
+
+[source,c++]
+----
+//[aux.h]
+
+/* Stream manipulator macros
+ * =========================
+ *
+ * Requires <iostream> and <iomanip>
+ */
+
+// The parenthesis in C/C++ macros are best practice
+// https://stackoverflow.com/q/7186504/7498073
+
+// Width-Left (use with strings)
+#define WL(w) " " << setw((w) - 1) << left << setprecision(2) << fixed
+
+// Width-Right (use with numbers)
+#define WR(w) setw(w) << right << setprecision(2) << fixed
+
+// Width-Right-0-padding
+#define WR0(w, w0, x) setw((w) - (w0)) << "" \
+ << setw(w0) << right << setfill('0') \
+ << setprecision(2) << fixed << (x) \
+ << setfill(' ')
+
+// Width-Left-Date (dd/mm/yyyy format)
+#define WLD(w, x) setw((w) - 10) << "" << WR0(2, 2, (x) % 100) \
+ << '/' << WR0(2, 2, (x) / 100 % 100) \
+ << '/' << WR0(4, 4, (x) / 10000)
+
+#define MAXLEN 100
+----
+
+Example usage:
+
+[source, c++]
+----
+//[example.cpp]
+
+/* Example usage
+ * ============= */
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <iomanip>
+#include "aux.h" // It's easier to import a single .h to many .cpp files
+
+using namespace std;
+
+typedef struct {
+ int id;
+ const char name[MAXLEN];
+ double luckynumber;
+ int dob; // date of birth
+} student_t;
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+ student_t students[] = {
+ {1, "Ana Ambooken", 69.420, 19990606},
+ {2, "Bob Banana", 666.66, 19760411},
+ {3, "Carlos Clear", 123.456, 20000101}
+ };
+ int n = 3;
+
+ for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+ cout << WR0(8, 4, students[i].id)
+ << WL(40) << students[i].name
+ << WR(8) << students[i].luckynumber;
+ cout << WLD(12, students[i].dob);
+ cout << '\n';
+ }
+ return 0;
+}
+----
+
+Output:
+
+----
+ 0001 Ana Ambooken 69.42 06/06/1999
+ 0002 Bob Banana 666.66 11/04/1976
+ 0003 Carlos Clear 123.46 01/01/2000
+----