python - Line up columns of numbers (print output in table format)

Question

I have data (numbers) saved in the following format (example):

234 127 34 23 45567  
23 12 4 4 45  
23456 2 1 444 567  
...

Is there any python-way method to line up the numbers and get them as

  234  127  34   23  45567  
   23   12   4    4     45  
23456    2   1  444    567 

(I cannot predict the column size).

Answer 1

Here is a simple, self-contained example that shows how to format variable column widths:

data = '''
234 127 34 23 45567
23 12 4 4 45
23456 2 1 444 567'''

# Split input data by row and then on spaces
rows = [ line.strip().split(' ') for line in data.split('
') ]

# Reorganize data by columns
cols = zip(*rows)

# Compute column widths by taking maximum length of values per column
col_widths = [ max(len(value) for value in col) for col in cols ]

# Create a suitable format string
format = ' '.join(['%%%ds' % width for width in col_widths ])

# Print each row using the computed format
for row in rows:
  print format % tuple(row)

which outputs:

  234 127 34  23 45567
   23  12  4   4    45
23456   2  1 444   567