Prettier-text-alignment-in-Update-Log-and-elsewhere

Jun 28, 2025, 03:14 PM - 27 days ago

Prettier text alignment in Update Log (and elsewhere)

Here's a screenshot of the Update Log window I took today after updating:

The text meanders all over the place. The main/sole culprit in this case is the first column 'Symbols' which can vary in length from 1 to over 15 (some WealthData symbols, Option contracts).

Fortunately, there's an easy fix for this in .NET: The PadRight method.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.string.padright?view=net-9.0

To illustrate how I used it to fix the same issue in my coded strategies:

CODE:
//WriteToDebugLog(List[a].sym ...

CODE:
WriteToDebugLog(List[a].sym.PadRight(6) ...

Works like a charm.

Helpful tips:
- a value of 20 for PadRight is suggested for Update Log, 25 will make it more future-proof for whatever comes down the road in the foreseeable future
- PadRight can be used in any string column, as needed
- can be implemented elsewhere in the program, as needed, for outputting text that looks prettier and professional

You're welcome.

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Glitch8

( 11.02% )

Jun 28, 2025, 04:25 PM - 27 days ago

Nice find with PadRight 👍

Cone8

( 9.83% )

Jun 28, 2025, 09:47 PM - 27 days ago

For even simpler column control for non-proportional text, just specify the column width, negative/positive for left/right alignment.

CODE:
        public override void Initialize(BarHistory bars)
        {
         string s = $"|{bars.Symbol,-10}|{bars.Symbol,10}|{bars.LastValue.ToString("N3"),20}|{bars.Count,-12}|";
         WriteToDebugLog(s, false);         
        }

Result:

CODE:
---Sequential Debug Log---
|WMT       |       WMT|              97.270|623         |
|CSCO      |      CSCO|              68.650|623         |
|NKE       |       NKE|              72.040|623         |
|BA        |        BA|             214.550|623         |
|MMM       |       MMM|             152.020|623         |
|KO        |        KO|              70.330|623         |
|AXP       |       AXP|             317.190|623         |
|AAPL      |      AAPL|             201.080|623         |
|VZ        |        VZ|              42.310|623         |
|HD        |        HD|             368.740|623         |
|CVX       |       CVX|             143.790|623         |
|IBM       |       IBM|             289.700|623         |
|PG        |        PG|             159.860|623         |
|JNJ       |       JNJ|             152.410|623         |
|V         |         V|             348.610|623         |
|TRV       |       TRV|             263.310|623         |
|DOW       |       DOW|              48.900|466         |
|MRK       |       MRK|              79.100|623         |
|MCD       |       MCD|             291.550|623         |
|CAT       |       CAT|             384.710|623         |
|INTC      |      INTC|              26.230|466         |
|JPM       |       JPM|             287.110|623         |
|SHW       |       SHW|             345.720|410         |
|MSFT      |      MSFT|             495.940|623         |
|WBA       |       WBA|              11.450|623         |
|GS        |        GS|             690.810|623         |
|UNH       |       UNH|             309.110|623         |
|HON       |       HON|             228.850|623         |
|CRM       |       CRM|             273.420|623         |
|NVDA      |      NVDA|             157.750|410         |
|AMGN      |      AMGN|             277.130|623         |
|DIS       |       DIS|             122.340|623         |

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