cppreference.com > C++ I/O > width width Syntax:
      #include <fstream>
      int width();
      int width( int w );
The function width() returns the current width, which is defined as the minimum number of characters to display with each output. The optional argument w can be used to set the width. For example:
       cout.width( 5 );
       cout << "2";
displays
           2
(that's four spaces followed by a '2') Related topics: fill precision