C# string format alignment not working

Question

I am working on an ASP.Net core application and would like to align some text in a string.
Somehow I am not able to get this working and am probably missing something very obvious here.

So this is my code (simplified):

public class AdminController : Controller
{
    [HttpPost]
    [ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
    public async Task<IActionResult> ImportOrganizations(ICollection<IFormFile> files)
    {
        var count = 0;

        var uploads = Path.Combine(_environment.WebRootPath, "uploads");
        foreach (var file in files)
        {
            if (file.Length <= 0) continue;
            using (var reader = new StreamReader(file.OpenReadStream()))
            {
                var csv = new CsvReader(reader);
                while (csv.Read())
                {
                    // Fields that need to be filled
                    string name;

                    try
                    {
                        name = csv.GetField<string>("Name");
                    }
                    catch (Exception ex)
                    {
                        ModelState.AddModelError("", $"Row {csv.Row, 10}, {ex.Message}");
                        continue;
                    }

                    // Check if name has a value
                    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(name))
                    {
                        ModelState.AddModelError("", $"Row {csv.Row, 10}, Name is a required field");
                        continue;
                    }

                    if (await _context.Organizations.AnyAsync(o => o.Name == name))
                    {
                        ModelState.AddModelError("", $"Row {csv.Row, 3}, Organization {name} already exists");
                        continue;
                    }

                    // Add the new Event
                    var or = new Organization()
                    {
                        Name = name
                    };

                    _context.Organizations.Add(or);
                }

                await SaveContext();
            }
        }

        var model = new ImportViewModel("Import Organizations", nameof(ImportOrganizations), count);
        return View("Import", model);
    }
}

Now when the import file does not have a value in the name field, I expect something like this in my browser:
Row 20 , Name is a required field
But I keep getting this:
Row 20, Name is a required field

Could someone help me out here?

Possibly https://stackoverflow.com/questions/433493/why-do-multiple-spaces-in-an-html-file-show-up-as-single-spaces-in-the-browser — sgmoore, Jan 07 '17 at 10:14
@sgmoore . Ah, I thought it would be something obvious. Thanks — Johan Vergeer, Jan 07 '17 at 10:17

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 07 '17 at 10:17

0

You need to use negative value for the field width, if you want to pad value on the right side:

$"Row {csv.Row, -10}, {ex.Message}"

See Composite Formatting article for more details.

answered Jan 07 '17 at 10:17

CodeFuller

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score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 13 '17 at 17:40

0

Thanks to the comment of sgmoore, I was able to resolve it.

It seems this is an issue of html, where it is not possible to use multiple whitespaces in a row.

answered Jan 13 '17 at 17:40

Johan Vergeer

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C# string format alignment not working

2 Answers2