Is there a JavaScript function that can pad a string to get to a determined length?

Question

I am in need of a JavaScript function which can take a value and pad it to a given length (I need spaces, but anything would do). I found this:

Code:

Answer 1

pad with default values

I noticed that i mostly need the padLeft for time conversion / number padding

so i wrote this function

function padL(a,b,c){//string/number,length=2,char=0
 return (new Array(b||2).join(c||0)+a).slice(-b)
}

This simple function supports Number or String as input

default pad is 2 chars

default char is 0

so i can simply write

padL(1);
// 01

if i add the second argument (pad width)

padL(1,3);
// 001

third parameter (pad char)

padL('zzz',10,'x');
// xxxxxxxzzz

EDIT @BananaAcid if you pass a undefined value or a 0 length string you get 0undefined..so:

as suggested

function padL(a,b,c){//string/number,length=2,char=0
 return (new Array((b||1)+1).join(c||0)+(a||'')).slice(-(b||2))
}

but this can also be achieved in a shorter way.

function padL(a,b,c){//string/number,length=2,char=0
 return (new Array(b||2).join(c||0)+(a||c||0)).slice(-b)
}

works also with:

padL(0)
padL(NaN)
padL('')
padL(undefined)
padL(false)

And if you want to be able to pad in both ways :

function pad(a,b,c,d){//string/number,length=2,char=0,0/false=Left-1/true=Right
return a=(a||c||0),c=new Array(b||2).join(c||0),d?(a+c).slice(0,b):(c+a).slice(-b)
}

which can be written in a shorter way without using slice.

function pad(a,b,c,d){
 return a=(a||c||0)+'',b=new Array((++b||3)-a.length).join(c||0),d?a+b:b+a
}
/*

Usage:

pad(
 input // (int or string) or undefined,NaN,false,empty string
       // default:0 or PadCharacter
 // optional
 ,PadLength // (int) default:2
 ,PadCharacter // (string or int) default:'0'
 ,PadDirection // (bolean) default:0 (padLeft) - (true or 1) is padRight 
)

*/

now if you try to pad 'averylongword' with 2 ... thats not my problem.

---

Said that i give you a tip.

Most of the time if you pad you do it for the same value N times.

Using any type of function inside a loop slows down the loop!!!

So if you just wanna pad left some numbers inside a long list don't use functions to do this simple thing.

use something like this:

var arrayOfNumbers=[1,2,3,4,5,6,7],
    paddedArray=[],
    len=arrayOfNumbers.length;
while(len--){
 paddedArray[len]=('0000'+arrayOfNumbers[len]).slice(-4);
}

if you don't know how the max padding size based on the numbers inside the array.

var arrayOfNumbers=[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,49095],
    paddedArray=[],
    len=arrayOfNumbers.length;

// search the highest number
var arrayMax=Function.prototype.apply.bind(Math.max,null),
// get that string length
padSize=(arrayMax(arrayOfNumbers)+'').length,
// create a Padding string
padStr=new Array(padSize).join(0);
// and after you have all this static values cached start the loop.
while(len--){
 paddedArray[len]=(padStr+arrayOfNumbers[len]).slice(-padSize);//substr(-padSize)
}
console.log(paddedArray);

/*
0: "00001"
1: "00002"
2: "00003"
3: "00004"
4: "00005"
5: "00006"
6: "00007"
7: "49095"
*/