Proportionate spacing of characters/ lining up left and right

[rkass068]

Hello,

 

I have a portal with a date field in the format DD-mmmm-YYYY for example. 01-Jan-2015. 

 

I want to line up the right side and left side of each portal entry for this field so the text lines up perfectly. I am able to line up one side using the justification options but when I use full justification it does not work. Is there a way to line up the dates so that the spacing changes for some dates to meet the margins of the field and the text lines up on both sides?

 

Thanks in advance

[LaRetta]

Hi,

 

Aren't all 'dates' 11 characters?  Shouldn't they line up?  Are you saying they are not exactly in line?  They can appear out of line because in proportional fonts, some characters are wider than others, such as I is narrower than M.  If you want them to perfectly align, use a non-proportional font.

[rkass068]

Thanks LaRetta, Yes thats exactly what I mean. How do I know what fonts are not proportional? I am currently using Arial. 

 

Edit: By the way I am running my database on both OSX and Windows

[LaRetta]

Andale Mono

Nu Sands

Monaco

Dina

Courier

 

there are others - you can Google search for monospaced or non-proportional to find others.  

[Lee Smith]

You have an application in your Application folder called Font Book, in it,  there is a category called Fixed Width.

[comment]

when I use full justification it does not work.

 

I believe full justification only works with soft line breaks; your field has only one line, and presumably the field is wide enough to show it in its entirety - so there is no soft break, and no lines above the last line to fully justify. And it would only work with spaces as word separators, not hyphens.

 

 

Is there a way to line up the dates so that the spacing changes for some dates to meet the margins of the field and the text lines up on both sides?

 

Why is this so important? IMHO, applying a monospaced font will be a cure worse than the disease (esp. if you apply it only to the dates).

[rkass068]

I believe full justification only works with soft line breaks; your field has only one line, and presumably the field is wide enough to show it in its entirety - so there is no soft break, and no lines above the last line to fully justify. And it would only work with spaces as word separators, not hyphens.

 

 

 

Why is this so important? IMHO, applying a monospaced font will be a cure worse than the disease (esp. if you apply it only to the dates).

 

It is important because the boss says so lol. I added a monospace font and TBH it sticks out like a sore thumb. I guess the boss will see it and change their mind. hahaha