Printcentered

Printcentered is a utility function used in programming and scripting to render a text string centered within a fixed display width. It outputs the string padded with the chosen fill character so that the text appears balanced in the horizontal space of a line or field. This behavior is commonly used in console applications, text user interfaces, and simple report formats where visual alignment is important.

Most implementations accept at least three concepts: the text to print, a target width, and an optional fill character (defaulting to a space). Some variants also allow control over whether to wrap long text, truncate it, or add a trailing newline. When the text length is less than the width, padding is distributed to the left and right. If the text is longer than the width, behavior varies: it may be printed as-is, truncated, or wrapped to multiple lines.

Example in pseudocode: printcentered("Hello", width=40). This would print the word centered within a 40-character field, typically resulting in left and right padding that is as balanced as possible. In Python, the same effect can be achieved by using the string center method, e.g., text.center(width) before printing.

Return value and portability: Some implementations return the number of characters written, others return nothing. Because printcentered is not a universally standardized function, its exact signature depends on the language or library. When porting code, it is common to implement a small helper that uses the language's native centering facilities and then prints the result.

Related concepts include text alignment utilities, string formatting with width specifiers, and libraries that provide structured text layout for terminals.