“Permanent” std::setw

Question

Is there any way how to set std::setw manipulator (or its function width) permanently? Look at this:

#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <algorithm>
#include <iterator>

int main( void )
{
  int array[] = { 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 };
  std::cout.fill( '0' );
  std::cout.flags( std::ios::hex );
  std::cout.width( 3 );

  std::copy( &array[0], &array[9], std::ostream_iterator<int>( std::cout, " " ) );

  std::cout << std::endl;

  for( int i = 0; i < 9; i++ )
  {
    std::cout.width( 3 );
    std::cout << array[i] << " ";
  }
  std::cout << std::endl;
}

After run, I see:

001 2 4 8 10 20 40 80 100

001 002 004 008 010 020 040 080 100

I.e. every manipulator holds its place except the setw/width which must be set for every entry. Is there any elegant way how to use std::copy (or something else) along with setw? And by elegant I certainly don't mean creating own functor or function for writing stuff into std::cout.

Answer 1

Well, it's not possible. No way to make it call .width each time again. But you can use boost, of course:

#include <boost/function_output_iterator.hpp>
#include <boost/lambda/lambda.hpp>
#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>

int main() {
    using namespace boost::lambda;
    int a[] = { 1, 2, 3, 4 };
    std::copy(a, a + 4, 
        boost::make_function_output_iterator( 
              var(std::cout) << std::setw(3) << _1)
        );
}

It does create its own functor, but it happens behind the scene :)

Answer 2

Since setw and width do not result in a persistent setting, one solution is to define a type that overrides operator<<, applying setw before the value. This would allow an ostream_iterator for that type to function with std::copy as below.

int fieldWidth = 4;
std::copy(v.begin(), v.end(),
    std::ostream_iterator< FixedWidthVal<int,fieldWidth> >(std::cout, ","));

You could define: (1) FixedWidthVal as a template class with parameters for data type (typename) and width (value), and (2) an operator<< for an ostream and a FixedWidthVal that applies setw for each insertion.

// FixedWidthVal.hpp
#include <iomanip>

template <typename T, int W>
struct FixedWidthVal
{
    FixedWidthVal(T v_) : v(v_) {}
    T v;
};

template <typename T, int W>
std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& ostr, const FixedWidthVal<T,W> &fwv)
{
    return ostr << std::setw(W) << fwv.v;
}

Then it could be applied with std::copy (or a for loop):

// fixedWidthTest.cpp
#include <iostream>
#include <algorithm>
#include <iterator>
#include "FixedWidthVal.hpp"

int main () {
    // output array of values
    int array[] = { 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 };

    std::copy(array,array+sizeof(array)/sizeof(int), 
        std::ostream_iterator< FixedWidthVal<int,4> >(std::cout, ","));

    std::cout << std::endl;

    // output values computed in loop
    std::ostream_iterator<FixedWidthVal<int, 4> > osi(std::cout, ",");
    for (int i=1; i<4097; i*=2)
        osi = i; // * and ++ not necessary

    std::cout << std::endl;

    return 0;
}

Output (demo)

   1,   2,   4,   8,  16,  32,  64, 128, 256,
   1,   2,   4,   8,  16,  32,  64, 128, 256, 512,1024,2048,4096,