In this article, we will pad a string to get the determined length using JavaScript. To achieve this we have a few methods in javascript which are described below:
Methods to pad a string to get the determined length:
- Using the padStart() method
- Custom function using repeat() and slice() method
- Using JavaScript loops
Method 1: Using the padStart() method.
The padStart() method can be used to pad a string with the specified characters to the specified length. It takes two parameters, the target length, and the string to be replaced with. The target length is the length of the resulting string after the current string has been padded. The second parameter is the characters that the string would be padded. If a number is to be padded, it has to be first converted into a string by passing it to the String constructor. Then the padStart() method is used on this string.Â
Syntax:
String(strToPad).padStart(padLength, padChar)
Example: This example uses the above approach to pad a string.
Javascript
function pad() {    // Input string    example1 = "abcdefg";    example2 = 1234;         // Display input string    console.log(example1);    console.log(example2);Â
    // Padded string    prepended_out = String(example1).padStart(10, '*');    prepended_out2 = String(example2).padStart(10, '^#');         // Display output    console.log(prepended_out);    console.log(prepended_out2);}Â
// Function Calpad(); |
abcdefg 1234 ***abcdefg ^#^#^#1234
Method 2: Custom function using repeat() and slice() method.
The string.repeat() is an inbuilt method in JavaScript that is used to build a new string containing a specified number of copies of the string on which this method has been called.
Syntax:
string.repeat(count);
The Javascript arr.slice() method returns a new array containing a portion of the array on which it is implemented. The original remains unchanged.
Syntax:
arr.slice(begin, end)
Example: This example uses the above approach to pad a string.
Javascript
function padStr(padChar, padLength, originalString) {         // Convert the pad character and original    // string to String    padChar = String(padChar);    originalString = String(originalString);Â
    // Calculate the length of padding characters    padLeft = padLength - originalString.length;Â
    // Create the pad string    padString = padChar.repeat(padLeft);Â
    // Add the pad string to the original string    // slice it to the padLength if it exceeds    // the pad length specified    newString = (padString +                originalString).slice(-padLength);    return newString;}Â
function pad() {    // Input string    example1 = "abcdefg";    example2 = 1234;         // Display input    console.log(example1);    console.log(example2);Â
    // Padded string    prepended_out = padStr('*', 10, example1);    prepended_out2 = padStr('^#', 10, example2);         // Display output    console.log(prepended_out);    console.log(prepended_out2);}Â
// Function Calpad(); |
abcdefg 1234 ***abcdefg ^#^#^#1234
Method 3: Using JavaScript loops
A while loop is a control flow statement that allows code to be executed repeatedly based on a given Boolean condition. The while loop can be thought of as a repeating if statement.Â
Syntax :
while (boolean condition) {
loop statements...
}
Example:
Javascript
function padStr(padChar, padLength, originalString) {    newString = originalString;         // Loop until desired length is reached    while (newString.length < padLength) {               // Add padChar each time        paddedString = padChar + paddedString;    }    return newString;}Â
function pad() {    // Input string    example1 = "abcdefg";    example2 = 1234;    console.log(example1);    console.log(example2);Â
    // Padded string    prepended_out = String(example1).padStart(10, '*');    prepended_out2 = String(example2).padStart(10, '^#');         // Display output    console.log(prepended_out);    console.log(prepended_out2);}Â
// Function Calpad(); |
abcdefg 1234 ***abcdefg ^#^#^#1234
