Python String center() Method

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The python string center() method is used to position the current string in the center as per the given width. This method accepts an integer value representing the desired width of the string as a parameter, places the current string at the center and fills the remaining characters of the string with spaces.

By default, the remaining characters in the string are populated with the empty spaces (preceeding and succeeding) and, the whole string after the padding is returned as the output which is the centered value. You can also specify the charcater that you need to use for the filling using the fillchar optional parameter.

In the following section, we will be learning more details about the python string center() method.

Syntax

The following is the syntax for the python string center() method.

str.center(width[, fillchar])

Parameters

The following are the parameters for the python string center() method.

• width − This parameter is an integer value which represents the total length of the string along with the padding characters.

• fillchar − This parameter specifies the filling characters. Only the single length character is accepted. The default filling character is the ASCII space.

Return Value

The python string center() method returns the string value which is centered in the specified width.

Example

The following is an example to center an input string with the help of the python string center() function. In this program a string "Welcome to Tutorialspoint." is created. Then, the center() function is invoked on the string to center it and the remaining extra spaces are filled with the fill char which is specified as '.'. The output is printed using the print() function.

str = "Welcome to Tutorialspoint."
output=str.center(40, '.')
print("The string after applying the center() function is:", output)

On executing the above program, the following output is generated -

The string after applying the center() function is: .......Welcome to Tutorialspoint........

Example

If an alphabet is taken as fill char, the input string is centered in the given width and the extra characters are padded using the alphabet that is specified in the parameter in the center() function.

In the following example, a string "Welcome to Tutorialspoint." is created and the center() function is invoked on the string to center it to the given width '40' and the output is printed using the print() function.

str = "Welcome to Tutorialspoint."
output=str.center(40, 's')
print("The string after applying the center() function is:", output)

The following is the output obtained by executing the above program -

The string after applying the center() function is: sssssssWelcome to Tutorialspoint.sssssss

Example

If the fillchar is not specified in the parameter of the center() function, then the default fillchar which is the ASCII space is considered as the padding value.

In the following example, a string "Welcome to Tutorialspoint." is created and the center() function is invoked on the string to center it to the given width '40' but the fillchar is not specified in the argument. The output is printed using the print() function.

str = "Welcome to Tutorialspoint."
output=str.center(40)
print("The string after applying the center() function is:", output)

The following output is obtained by executing the above program -

The string after applying the center() function is:        Welcome to Tutorialspoint.       

Example

This function does not modify the original string if the parameter width that is mentioned is less than the length of the original input string.

In the following example, a string "Welcome to Tutorialspoint." is created and the center() function is invoked on the string to center it to the given width '5' which is less than the length of the created string. The output is then printed using the print() function.

str = "Welcome to Tutorialspoint."
output=str.center(5)
print("The string after applying the center() function is:", output)

The above program, on executing, displays the following output -

The string after applying the center() function is: Welcome to Tutorialspoint.

Example

This function does not accept a string fillchar. It only accepts one character long fillchar. If the fillchar specified does not obey this condition, a type error is occured.

In the following example, a string "Welcome to Tutorialspoint." is created and the center() function is invoked on the string to center it to the given width '40' and a string fillchar 'aa'. The output is then printed using the print() function.

str = "Welcome to Tutorialspoint."
output=str.center(40, 'aa')
print("The string after applying the center() function is:", output)

The output of the above program is displayed as follows -

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "main.py", line 2, in 
    output=str.center(40, 'aa')
TypeError: The fill character must be exactly one character long