Fixed Length Fields

[Maky Chopra]

I'm reading a string from a database and need to write to a file, which needs to be fixed length. How do i put the 10 character field that I read from the db to the file and then leave the next 15 fields blank before I start the next one ?
Also, how do I left justify integers with right filled zeros for the same file ?
Thanks (yes.. in advance :-)

[Michael Morris]

You might try something like this:

public class RecordPadder {
    public void putField(StringBuffer record, String field, int fieldNumber,
                          int fieldSize, char padChar) {
        int recSize = record.length();
        int fldSize = field.length();
        StringBuffer newField = new StringBuffer();
        // Truncate the field if it's longer than fieldSize
        if (fldSize > fieldSize) {
            newField.append(field.substring(0, fieldSize));
        }
        // Pad the field if it's too short
        else if (fldSize < fieldSize) {
            newField.append(field);
            for (int i = 0; i < fieldSize - fldSize; i++) {
                 newField.append(padChar);
             }
        }
        // Just copy it if it's the right length
        else {
            newField.append(field);
        }
        // Start position for our field
        int start = fieldNumber * fieldSize;
        // Pad the record to the end of our field if necessary
        if (recSize < start + fieldSize) {
            for (int i = recSize; i < start + fieldSize; i++) {
                newField.append(padChar);
            }
        }
        // Add the field to our record
        record.replace(start, start + fieldSize, new String(newField));
    }
   public String padInt(int integer, int fieldSize) {
        StringBuffer intString = new StringBuffer();
        intString.append(integer);
        // Pad the integer with 0's to the right
        for (int i = intString.length(); i < fieldSize; i++) {
            intString.append(0);
        }
        return new String(intString);
    }
}

[Michael Morris]

Had a mistake in the previous post.

public class RecordPadder {
    public void putField(StringBuffer record, String field, int fieldNumber,
                          int fieldSize, char padChar) {
        int recSize = record.length();
        int fldSize = field.length();
        StringBuffer newField = new StringBuffer();
        // Truncate the field if it's longer than fieldSize
        if (fldSize > fieldSize) {
            newField.append(field.substring(0, fieldSize));
        }
        // Pad the field if it's too short
        else if (fldSize < fieldSize) {
            newField.append(field);
            for (int i = 0; i < fieldSize - fldSize; i++) {
                 newField.append(padChar);
             }
        }
        // Just copy it if it's the right length
        else {
            newField.append(field);
        }
        // Start position for our field
        int start = fieldNumber * fieldSize;
        // Pad the record to the end of our field if necessary
        if (recSize < start + fieldSize) {
            for (int i = recSize; i < start + fieldSize; i++) {
/* This line was wrong in the previous post */
/* ######################################## */
                record.append(padChar);
/* ######################################## */
            }
        }
        // Add the field to our record
        record.replace(start, start + fieldSize, new String(newField));
    }
   public String padInt(int integer, int fieldSize) {
        StringBuffer intString = new StringBuffer();
        intString.append(integer);
        // Pad the integer with 0's to the right
        for (int i = intString.length(); i < fieldSize; i++) {
            intString.append(0);
        }
        return new String(intString);
    }
}