How do I remove unwanted indentation from Python output (File handling)?

Question

I have been working on a program that reads from a file using Python 3.5.2, where the results are output in the form of a table. The file I have stored the data like a CSV (but as a text file)

I'm not sure why but when I run the procedure, the result seems to have a two space indent after the first record.

def display():
    with open("StudentScores.txt","r") as Scores:
        print("{0:<10}      {1:<10}        {2:<5}".format("\nFIRSTNAME","SURNAME","SCORE"))
        for eachLine in Scores:
            eachLine.strip()
            each=eachLine.split(",")
            print("{0:<10}      {1:<10}        {2:<5}".format(each[0],each[1],each[2]),end="",sep="")

The text file I'm using:

Ralph,White,41
Maria,Cox,26
Sharon,Barnes,88
Eric,Garcia,31
Cheryl,Scott,60
Ron,Cooper,11
Lori,Ramirez,34
William,Jones,60
Evelyn,Baker,28
Janice,Sanders,10
Ralph,White,41
Maria,Cox,26
Sharon,Barnes,88
Eric,Garcia,31
Cheryl,Scott,60
Ron,Cooper,11
Lori,Ramirez,34
William,Jones,60
Evelyn,Baker,28
Janice,Sanders,10

And finally the output I've been receiving (copied from IDLE)

FIRSTNAME      SURNAME           SCORE
Ralph           White             41
  Maria           Cox               26
  Sharon          Barnes            88
  Eric            Garcia            31
  Cheryl          Scott             60
  Ron             Cooper            11
  Lori            Ramirez           34
  William         Jones             60
  Evelyn          Baker             28
  Janice          Sanders           10
  Ralph           White             41
  Maria           Cox               26
  Sharon          Barnes            88
  Eric            Garcia            31
  Cheryl          Scott             60
  Ron             Cooper            11
  Lori            Ramirez           34
  William         Jones             60
  Evelyn          Baker             28
  Janice          Sanders           10

Any suggestions? I've only been using Python for 3 days on a new laptop (Windows 10), if that's any help.

Answer 1

When you read lines from a file:

for eachLine in Scores:

the lines include the newline character at the end (except maybe the last line, if the file is missing a final newline character).

When you call strip:

eachLine.strip()

that doesn't mutate eachLine. It returns a new, stripped string, which you promptly ignore and discard. eachLine still has a trailing newline.

When you call split:

each=eachLine.split(",")

each[2] has that trailing newline.

When you print each[2] with replacement field {2:<5}, each[2] contains 2 digits and a newline. <5 left-aligns it in a field of width 5, padding the end with spaces, so it prints two digits, a newline, and two spaces on the next line.

To fix this, actually store the return value of strip, stop space-padding the score field, and stop passing end="". sep="" is also redundant, since you're only printing one string at a time:

def display():
    with open("StudentScores.txt","r") as Scores:
        print("{0:<10}      {1:<10}        {2}".format("FIRSTNAME","SURNAME","SCORE"))
        for eachLine in Scores:
            eachLine = eachLine.strip()
            each = eachLine.split(",")
            print("{0:<10}      {1:<10}        {2}".format(each[0],each[1],each[2]))

Answer 2

Change this line:

print("{0:<10}      {1:<10}        {2:<5}".format(each[0],each[1],each[2]),end="",sep="")

To this:

# Just changing <5 to <3
print("{0:<10}      {1:<10}        {2:<3}".format(each[0],each[1],each[2]),end="",sep="")

And it should print with the formatting you want.