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Print a specific number of spaces

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# 1  
Old 12-02-2014
Print a specific number of spaces
i'm looking for a command that allows me to print a specific number of spaces which i will provide.

something as simple as:
Code:
spaces=4

printf " " * $spaces

i'm looking for somethign that'll allow me to print a specific amount of spaces on a line.

can awk be used for this?
# 2  
Old 12-02-2014
You could try it this way:
Code:
	getspace() { # NUM
	# Returns string of NUM space chars
	#
		C=0 ; out=""
		while [[ $C -lt $1 ]];do out+=" ";let C++;done
		printf "$out"
	}

Or the other:
Code:
EMPTY="$(printf '%*s' $WIDTH)"

Hope this helps
This User Gave Thanks to sea For This Post:
SkySmart
# 3  
Old 12-02-2014
Quote:
Originally Posted by sea
You could try it this way:
Code:
	getspace() { # NUM
	# Returns string of NUM space chars
	#
		C=0 ; out=""
		while [[ $C -lt $1 ]];do out+=" ";let C++;done
		printf "$out"
	}

Or the other:
Code:
EMPTY="$(printf '%*s' $WIDTH)"

Hope this helps
it worked. i'm using your one liner printf command. thank you!
# 4  
Old 12-02-2014
Also if you're using bash you can do:

Code:
printf -v EMPTY '%*s' $WIDTH

Which avoids loading a sub-shell and should work a little faster. The down side is it's less portable (say to ksh).
This User Gave Thanks to Chubler_XL For This Post:
SkySmart
# 5  
Old 12-02-2014
You can also try this in perl.

Code:
 perl -e 'print " " x N';

Perl's x operator repeats a string a number of times(N).
This User Gave Thanks to Nila For This Post:
SkySmart
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