format_table.py

# public domain code
# useful for csv output etc.

def format_table(rows, headers):
    """Format list of tuples into equal width table with headers"""
    maxlens = [len(h) for h in headers]
    for r in rows:
        for i, c in enumerate(r):
            maxlens[i] = max(maxlens[i], len(c))
    tpltpl = []
    for i, m in enumerate(maxlens):
        tpltpl.append('{%s:<%s}' % (i, m))
    # {0:12}  {1:7}  {2:10}  {3:8}
    templ = '  '.join(tpltpl) + '\n'

    out = templ.format(*headers)
    out += templ.format(*['-'*m for m in maxlens])
    for r in rows:
        out += templ.format(*r)
    return out