String.PadLeft Method

Definition

Namespace:

System

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Returns a new string of a specified length in which the beginning of the current string is padded with spaces or with a specified Unicode character.

Overloads

PadLeft(Int32)	Returns a new string that right-aligns the characters in this instance by padding them with spaces on the left, for a specified total length.
PadLeft(Int32, Char)	Returns a new string that right-aligns the characters in this instance by padding them on the left with a specified Unicode character, for a specified total length.

PadLeft(Int32)

Source:

String.Manipulation.cs

Returns a new string that right-aligns the characters in this instance by padding them with spaces on the left, for a specified total length.

public:
 System::String ^ PadLeft(int totalWidth);

public string PadLeft (int totalWidth);

member this.PadLeft : int -> string

Public Function PadLeft (totalWidth As Integer) As String

Parameters

totalWidth

Int32

The number of characters in the resulting string, equal to the number of original characters plus any additional padding characters.

Returns

String

A new string that is equivalent to this instance, but right-aligned and padded on the left with as many spaces as needed to create a length of totalWidth. However, if totalWidth is less than the length of this instance, the method returns a reference to the existing instance. If totalWidth is equal to the length of this instance, the method returns a new string that is identical to this instance.

Exceptions

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

totalWidth is less than zero.

Examples

The following example demonstrates the PadLeft method.

String^ str = "BBQ and Slaw";
Console::WriteLine( str->PadLeft( 15 ) ); // Displays "   BBQ and Slaw".
Console::WriteLine( str->PadLeft( 5 ) );  // Displays "BBQ and Slaw".

string str = "BBQ and Slaw";
Console.WriteLine(str.PadLeft(15));  // Displays "   BBQ and Slaw".
Console.WriteLine(str.PadLeft(5));   // Displays "BBQ and Slaw".

let str = "BBQ and Slaw"
printfn $"{str.PadLeft 15}"  // Displays "   BBQ and Slaw".
printfn $"{str.PadLeft 5}"   // Displays "BBQ and Slaw".

Dim str As String
str = "BBQ and Slaw"
Console.WriteLine(str.PadLeft(15)) ' Displays "   BBQ and Slaw".
Console.WriteLine(str.PadLeft(5))  ' Displays "BBQ and Slaw".

Remarks

A Unicode space is defined as hexadecimal 0x0020.

The PadLeft(Int32) method pads the beginning of the returned string. This means that, when used with right-to-left languages, it pads the right portion of the string.

Note

If the PadLeft method pads the current instance with white-space characters, this method does not modify the value of the current instance. Instead, it returns a new string that is padded with leading white space so that its total length is totalWidth characters.

See also

• Int32
• PadRight(Int32)
• Trim(Char[])

PadLeft(Int32, Char)

Source:

String.Manipulation.cs

Returns a new string that right-aligns the characters in this instance by padding them on the left with a specified Unicode character, for a specified total length.

public:
 System::String ^ PadLeft(int totalWidth, char paddingChar);

public string PadLeft (int totalWidth, char paddingChar);

member this.PadLeft : int * char -> string

Public Function PadLeft (totalWidth As Integer, paddingChar As Char) As String

Parameters

totalWidth

Int32

The number of characters in the resulting string, equal to the number of original characters plus any additional padding characters.

paddingChar

Char

A Unicode padding character.

Returns

String

A new string that is equivalent to this instance, but right-aligned and padded on the left with as many paddingChar characters as needed to create a length of totalWidth. However, if totalWidth is less than the length of this instance, the method returns a reference to the existing instance. If totalWidth is equal to the length of this instance, the method returns a new string that is identical to this instance.

Exceptions

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

totalWidth is less than zero.

Examples

The following example demonstrates the PadLeft method.

using namespace System;

void main()
{
   String^ str = "forty-two";
   Console::WriteLine( str->PadLeft( 15, L'.' ) ); 
   Console::WriteLine( str->PadLeft( 2, L'.' ) ); 
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       ......forty-two
//       forty-two

using System;

class Sample
{
   public static void Main()
   {
   string str = "forty-two";
   char pad = '.';

   Console.WriteLine(str.PadLeft(15, pad));
   Console.WriteLine(str.PadLeft(2, pad));
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       ......forty-two
//       forty-two

let str = "forty-two"
let pad = '.'

printfn $"{str.PadLeft(15, pad)}"
printfn $"{str.PadLeft(2, pad)}"
// The example displays the following output:
//       ......forty-two
//       forty-two

Public Class Example
   Public Shared Sub Main()
      Dim str As String
      Dim pad As Char
      str = "forty-two"
      pad = "."c
      Console.WriteLine(str.PadLeft(15, pad)) 
      Console.WriteLine(str.PadLeft(2,  pad))
    End Sub
End Class
' The example displays the following output:
'       ......forty-two
'       forty-two

Remarks

The PadLeft(Int32, Char) method pads the beginning of the returned string. This means that, when used with right-to-left languages, it pads the right portion of the string.

Note

If the PadLeft method pads the current instance with white-space characters, this method does not modify the value of the current instance. Instead, it returns a new string that is padded with leading paddingChar characters so that its total length is totalWidth characters.

See also

• Char
• Int32
• PadRight(Int32)
• Trim(Char[])