printf format float with padding

Question

The following test code produces an undesired output, even though I used a width parameter:

int main(int , char* []) {     float test = 1234.5f;     float test2 = 14.5f;      printf("ABC %5.1f DEF\n", test);     printf("ABC %5.1f DEF\n", test2);      return 0; } 

Output

ABC 1234.5 DEF    ABC  14.5 DEF 

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How to achieve an output like this, which format string to use?

ABC 1234.5 DEF    ABC   14.5 DEF 

Answer 1

The following should line everything up correctly:

printf("ABC %6.1f DEF\n", test); printf("ABC %6.1f DEF\n", test2); 

When I run this, I get:

ABC 1234.5 DEF ABC   14.5 DEF 

The issue is that, in %5.1f, the 5 is the number of characters allocated for the entire number, and 1234.5 takes more than five characters. This results in misalignment with 14.5, which does fit in five characters.