Having trouble with iomanip, columns not lining up the way I expect - c++

Question

finishing up a long project and the final step is to make sure my data lines up in the proper column. easy. Only I am having trouble with this and have been at it for longer than i wish to admit watching many videos and can't really grasp what the heck to do So here is a little snippet of the code that I'm having trouble with:
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;
int main(){
cout << "Student Grade Summary\n";
cout << "---------------------\n\n";
cout << "BIOLOGY CLASS\n\n";
cout << "Student Final Final Letter\n";
cout << "Name Exam Avg Grade\n";
cout << "----------------------------------------------------------------\n";
cout << "bill"<< " " << "joeyyyyyyy" << right << setw(23)
<< "89" << " " << "21.00" << " "
<< "43" << "\n";
cout << "Bob James" << right << setw(23)
<< "89" << " " << "21.00" << " "
<< "43" << "\n";
}
which works for the first entry but the bob james entry has the numbers all askew. I thought setw was supposed to allow you to ignore that? What am i missing?
Thanks

Answer 1

It doesn't work as you think. std::setw sets the width of the field only for the next insertion (i.e., it is not "sticky").
Try something like this instead:
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;
int main() {
cout << "Student Grade Summary\n";
cout << "---------------------\n\n";
cout << "BIOLOGY CLASS\n\n";
cout << left << setw(42) << "Student" // left is a sticky manipulator
<< setw(8) << "Final" << setw(6) << "Final"
<< "Letter" << "\n";
cout << setw(42) << "Name"
<< setw(8) << "Exam" << setw(6) << "Avg"
<< "Grade" << "\n";
cout << setw(62) << setfill('-') << "";
cout << setfill(' ') << "\n";
cout << setw(42) << "bill joeyyyyyyy"
<< setw(8) << "89" << setw(6) << "21.00"
<< "43" << "\n";
cout << setw(42) << "Bob James"
<< setw(8) << "89" << setw(6) << "21.00"
<< "43" << "\n";
}
Also related: What's the deal with setw()?

Answer 2

The manipulators << right << setw(23) are telling the ostream that you want
the string "89" set in the right-hand edge of a 23-character-wide field.
There is nothing to tell the ostream where you want that field to start,
however, except for the width of the strings that are output since the
last newline.
And << "bill"<< " " << "joeyyyyyyy" writes a lot more characters to the output
than << "Bob James" does, so the 23-character-wide field on the second line
starts quite a bit to the left of the same field on the first line.

Answer 3

Stream manipulators affect the next input/output value being streamed, and then some manipulators (including setw()) reset afterwards. So you need to set the width and alignment BEFORE you output a text string, not afterwards.
Try something more like this:
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
void outputStudent(const string &firstName, const string &lastName,
int finalExam, float finalAvg, int letterGrade)
{
cout << setw(40) << left << (firstName + " " + lastName) << " "
<< setw(6) << right << finalExam << " "
<< setw(6) << right << fixed << setprecision(2) << finalAvg << " "
<< setw(7) << right << letterGrade << "\n";
}
int main()
{
cout << "Student Grade Summary\n";
cout << "---------------------\n\n";
cout << "BIOLOGY CLASS\n\n";
cout << "Student Final Final Letter\n";
cout << "Name Exam Avg Grade\n";
cout << "--------------------------------------------------------------\n";
outputStudent("bill", "joeyyyyyyy", 89, 21.00, 43);
outputStudent("Bob", "James", 89, 21.00, 43);
cin.get();
return 0;
}
Output:
Student Grade Summary
---------------------
BIOLOGY CLASS
Student Final Final Letter
Name Exam Avg Grade
--------------------------------------------------------------
bill joeyyyyyyy 89 21.00 43
Bob James 89 21.00 43