CSS: Center block, but align contents to the left

Question

I want a whole block to be centered in its parent, but I want the contents of the block to be left aligned.

Examples serve best

On this page :

http://yaml-online-parser.appspot.com/?yaml=%23+ASCII+Art%0d%0a---+%7c%0d%0a++%5c%2f%2f%7c%7c%5c%2f%7c%7c%0d%0a++%2f%2f+%7c%7c++%7c%7c__%0d%0a&type=python

the ascii art should be centered (as it appears) but it should line up and look like "YAML".

Or this :

http://yaml-online-parser.appspot.com/?yaml=%3f+-+Detroit+Tigers%0d%0a++-+Chicago+cubs%0d%0a%3a%0d%0a++-+2001-07-23%0d%0a%0d%0a%3f+%5b+New+York+Yankees%2c%0d%0a++++Atlanta+Braves+%5d%0d%0a%3a+%5b+2001-07-02%2c+2001-08-12%2c%0d%0a++++2001-08-14+%5d%0d%0a

the error message should all line up as it does in a console.

Answer 1

First, create a parent div that centers its child content with text-align: center. Next, create a child div that uses display: inline-block to adapt to the width of its children and text-align: left to make the content it holds align to the left as desired.

<div style="text-align: center;">     <div style="display: inline-block; text-align: left;">         Centered<br />         Content<br />         That<br />         Is<br />         Left<br />         Aligned     </div> </div>

If you wish to ensure that a long line does not widen everything too much, you may also apply the max-width property (with a value of your choice) to the inner tag:

max-width: 250px;