Layout column alignment problem

Question

Hi All,
I have a form where I am printing the line item details. I am using the following code
&EKET-EINDT&,,&EKPO-NETPR1&,,&EKPO-NETWR1&
This gives the output
08/26/2007          688.5          1377.02
Between unit price and net price i have another coloumn to print Tax, which is only printed for documents relevant for tax (this is printed from another text element)
the amount 1377.02 is now printing under a wrong column. I need to increase spacing between unit price and net price.
I tried using the following code (by adding additional ,, )
&EKET-EINDT&,,&EKPO-NETPR1&,,,,&EKPO-NETWR1&
But this does not make any difference in the output.
Can anyone help me how to get these values aligned?
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.
Mark.

Answer 1

Mark, as stated, the ,, between two fields indicates a tab in the paragraph format being used.
To adjust you may need to create your own paragraph format as a copy of a standard one so your changes do not affect other lines in the form.  Generally for columns where you are printing a field containing text you would use a tab with LEFT alignment, while for an amount you would use RIGHT or DECIMAL alignment.  Just measure on the paper where you want them and set the number of CM / MM for the tabs on the paragraph format.
Printing &EKPO-NETPR1& or &EKPO-NETWR1& is dropping the first character of these fields - this may cause you problems if you ever use large amounts.  By choosing RIGHT / DECIMAL tabs, you will not need to remove any leading spaces.
If you need to change the output of a field there are a number of options you can use: eg: &EKPO-NETPR(C)& compresses spaces in the field - &EKPO-NETPR(Z)& omits leading zeros.  In SE71 when editing the text in a window - use the Insert>Symbols>New  menu option to get a popup where you can put your field name and select output options like this.
Andrew