How would I fix the spacing in my C code output?

Question

I am trying to write a C code that reads a txt file and collects the student name and grades from the text file, displays them in a list, then gives each student's average grade.

The content of the txt file is this:

Cersie 22 16
Arya 90 96
Ramsay 3 5
Daenerys 90 35
Jon 93 93
Theon 60 85

The code I have so far is this:

   #include<stdio.h>
   #include<stdlib.h>
   #include<string.h>
   int rec; //reclare rec as number of records read from file as global variable so as to 
   access it any where
   //method to read the data from file and store them into corresponding arrays
   int getRecord(char name[100][20],double firstEx[100],double secondEx[100])
   {
   int i=0;
   FILE *inputFile = fopen("data.txt","r");//open the file in read mode
   //condition for unable to open the file
   if(inputFile==NULL)
   {
   printf("\n Unable to open the file.");
   exit(0);
   }
   //loop to read the file and store them into arrays
   while(fscanf(inputFile,"%s%lf%lf",name[i],&firstEx[i],&secondEx[i])!=EOF)
   {
   i++;//increase the number of files
   }
   return i;//return number of records read from file
   }
   //method to arrange the records in descending order
   void calculateAverageGrade(char name[100][20],double firstEx[100],double 
   secondEx[100],double average[100])
   {
   int i;
   //loop to compute the average of all the students
   for(i=0;i<rec;i++)
   {
   average[i]=(firstEx[i]+secondEx[i])/2;
   }

   }

   void sortRecord(char name[100][20],double firstEx[100],double secondEx[100],double 
   average[100])
   {
   //loop to arrange the records in descending order of average
   int i,j;
   double t;
   char temp[20];
   for(i=0;i<rec;i++)
   {
   for(j=i+1;j<rec;j++)
   {
   if(average[i]<average[j])
   {
   //swap firstExam score
   t=firstEx[i];
   firstEx[i]=firstEx[j];
   firstEx[j]=t;
   //swap secondExam Score
   t=secondEx[i];
   secondEx[i]=secondEx[j];
   secondEx[j]=t;
   //swap average
   t=average[i];
   average[i]=average[j];
   average[j]=t;
   //swap names
   strcpy(temp,name[i]);
   strcpy(name[i],name[j]);
   strcpy(name[j],temp);

   }
   }
   }
   }
   //method to print the records in descending order
   void printRecord(char name[100][20],double firstEx[100],double secondEx[100],double 
   average[100])
   {
   int i;
   printf("\nStudent Exam Record\nName\tExam One\tExam Two\tAverage");
   for(i=0;i<rec;i++)
   printf("\n%s\t%8.lf\t%8.lf\t%7.2lf",name[i],firstEx[i],secondEx[i],average[i]);
   }
   //method to display the top scorer
   void displayTopScorer(char name[100][20],double average[100])
   {
   float max=average[0];
   printf("\n\nTop Scorer");
   for(int i=0;i<rec;i++){
   if(average[i]==max)
   printf("\n%s",name[i],average[i]);
   } 
   }
   //driver code
   int main()
   {
   char name[100][20];
   double firstEx[100],secondEx[100],average[100];
   int i;
   //call to getRecord()
   rec=getRecord(name,firstEx,secondEx);
   //call to calculateAverageGrade()
   calculateAverageGrade(name,firstEx,secondEx,average);
   //call to sortRecord()
   sortRecord(name,firstEx,secondEx,average);
   printRecord(name,firstEx,secondEx,average);
   //call to displayTopScorer()
   displayTopScorer(name,average);
   }

The issue I'm having is that in my output, the spacing for Daenerys's grades is different than the grades for the rest of the students, as shown below:

Student Exam Record
Name    Exam One        Exam Two        Average
Arya          90              96          93.00        
Jon           93              93          93.00        
Theon         60              85          72.50        
Daenerys              90              35          62.50
Cersie        22              16          19.00
Ramsay         3               5           4.00

Would anyone be able to correct my code to fix this?

Answer 1

The problem is in your printfs. When you use %s\t it will print the string followed by a tabulator character - but that will make it end up at different tabulator positions depending on the length of the string. Make it %-21s (or similar) instead. The - is to make it left justified. 21 is the width you want for that field. Make the width as large as the longest string you allow for the field.