Question

How can I get the headings and columns to line up properly?

Asked by: geeta_m9

I would like to output my column headings and data neatly, with one or two spacings apart between columns, all on one line, if possible. My problem is that I can't seem to get the headings and the columns to line up properly. I have to mess with spaces to try to get them to line up. It is very frustrating. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me with this. The widths of my columns are as follows"
 
SWRREQD_SBGI_CODE              NOT NULL VARCHAR2(6 CHAR)          
SWRREQD_ACYR_CODE              NOT NULL VARCHAR2(4 CHAR)  
SWVSBGI_DESC                          NOT NULL VARCHAR2(60 CHAR)                                                                                                                                                                
SWRREQD_DEGT_TRNS              NOT NULL VARCHAR2(6 CHAR)          
SWVDEGT_DESC                   NOT NULL VARCHAR2(100 CHAR                                                                                                                                                                  
SWRREQD_DEGC_INST              NOT NULL VARCHAR2(6 CHAR)                                                                                                                                                                              
SWRREQD_MAJR_CODE             NOT NULL VARCHAR2(4 CHAR)        
STVMAJR_DESC                            VARCHAR2(30 CHAR                                                                                                                                                                      
SWRREQD_CONC_CODE            NOT NULL VARCHAR2(4 CHAR)                                                                                                                                                                              
SWRREQD_SEQNO                     NOT NULL NUMBER(3,1)                                                                                                                                                                                  
SWRREQD_SUBJ_CODE              NOT NULL VARCHAR2(60 CHAR)                                                                                                                                                                            
SWRREQD_CRSE_NUMB             NOT NULL VARCHAR2(60 CHAR)                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
SWRREQD_COUNTER                NOT NULL NUMBER(3,1)      
Count(*)                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                         
Eventhough the description (DESC) columns are of length 60 or 100, I only really need the first 40 characters because the rest all a blank. The SUBJ_CODE and CRSE_NUMB columns are shown of length 60,  but in reality they only take up 5 characters. I attempted to write my code as shown below, but I have had to put in leading blanks before the column titles to try to get them to line up. I know there should be a better way.

set linesize 200;
set pagesize 100;
set underline off;
column Inst_Code heading "Code" format a4;
column Catalog_Year heading "Year" format a4;
column Inst_Desc heading "Inst Desc" format a20;
column Deg_Trns heading "Deg Trns" format a10;
column Deg_Trns_Desc heading "  Degree Desc" format a40;
--column Deg_Inst heading "              Deg Inst" format a22;
--column Deg_Inst_Desc heading "              Deg Desc" format a22;
--column Major_Code heading "          Major Code" format a20;
--column Major_Desc heading "        Major Desc" format a25;
--column Conc heading "Conc" format a4;
--column Seq_No heading "        Seq No" format x;
--column Subj_Code heading "Subj Code" format a9;
--column Course_No heading "Course Num" format a6;
--column Count heading "Count" format 99;
 
SELECT SWRREQD_SBGI_CODE Inst_Code, SWRREQD_ACYR_CODE Catalog_Year, SWVSBGI_DESC Inst_Desc, TRIM(SWRREQD_DEGT_TRNS) Deg_Trns, TRIM(SWVDEGT_DESC) Deg_Trns_Desc, 
TRIM(SWRREQD_DEGC_INST) Deg_Inst, TRIM(STVDEGC_DESC) Deg_Inst_Desc, TRIM(SWRREQD_MAJR_CODE) Major_Code, TRIM(STVMAJR_DESC) Major_Desc, 
SWRREQD_CONC_CODE Conc, SWRREQD_SEQNO Seq_No, TRIM(SWRREQD_SUBJ_CODE) Subj_Code, SWRREQD_CRSE_NUMB Course_No, 
 COUNT (*) Count
FROM SWRREQD, SWVSBGI, SWVDEGT, STVMAJR, STVDEGC
WHERE SWRREQD_SBGI_CODE = SWVSBGI_CODE AND SWRREQD_MAJR_CODE = STVMAJR_CODE AND SWRREQD_DEGT_TRNS = SWVDEGT_CODE 
AND SWRREQD_DEGC_INST = STVDEGC_CODE
GROUP BY SWRREQD_SBGI_CODE, SWVSBGI_DESC, SWRREQD_DEGT_TRNS, SWVDEGT_DESC, SWRREQD_DEGC_INST, STVDEGC_DESC, SWRREQD_MAJR_CODE, 
STVMAJR_DESC, SWRREQD_CONC_CODE, SWRREQD_SEQNO, SWRREQD_SUBJ_CODE, SWRREQD_CRSE_NUMB, SWRREQD_ACYR_CODE
HAVING COUNT(*) > 1
ORDER BY SWRREQD_SBGI_CODE, SWRREQD_DEGT_TRNS, SWRREQD_DEGC_INST, SWRREQD_MAJR_CODE;

                                  
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Asked On
2009-09-30 at 12:48:13ID24774956
Tags

SQL

Topic

Oracle Database

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
8

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Answers

 

by: flow01Posted on 2009-09-30 at 13:43:02ID: 25463386

In what tool are yor executing the sql ?
Do you have an example of the output you get ?

 

by: paquicubaPosted on 2009-09-30 at 14:15:38ID: 25463726

SQL*Plus is not that pretty, you can always use RPAD to fill empty spaces and align all columns given a fixed width.

 

by: pal2iePosted on 2009-10-01 at 00:22:25ID: 25466544

You can try wrapping all columns in below:

SUBSTR(RPAD(<field_name>,25),1,25)

Here RPAD appends as many spaces to the end of the field as specified. Then SUBSTR cuts the final field output (field_value + spaces added by RPAD) to the length specified

-p

 

by: geeta_m9Posted on 2009-10-01 at 08:35:08ID: 25469826

Pal2ie, I'll try it and get back to  you.

 

by: geeta_m9Posted on 2009-10-01 at 08:36:02ID: 25469838

flow01, I am using SQL Plus to obtain the output.

 

by: flow01Posted on 2009-10-01 at 14:40:21ID: 25473455

In SQL Plus  I use the column format as you did,  or  the substr(rpad) solutions as suggested by paquicuba and pal2ie.

As It doesn't work for you can you show as an example of the result you get and what line-up you want ?

 

by: geeta_m9Posted on 2009-10-02 at 09:03:25ID: 25479206

flow01 and Pal2ie, I used RPAD (actually LPAD) like you suggested and it helped me adjust the output from the columns so that they lined up with the headings. However, I still had to make the adjustments with a lot of trial and error because I still can't figure out exactly how it works with the format column command I used at the top.

 

by: geeta_m9Posted on 2009-10-02 at 09:07:47ID: 31635586

Your suggestions to use RPAD helped me adjust my output. Unfortunately, I still haven't figures out a way to align my columns in a straightforward manner in SQL Plus.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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