$pad(<width> <char> <text>)

• The <char> argument is a dword which is different from most function arguments.
• If the <width> argument is omitted the empty string is returned.
• If the <char> argument is omitted the empty string is returned.
• The <width> argument may be positive or negative.
• Although the <char> argument can be a string, only the first character is actually used.
• If the absolute value of <width> is less than the length of <text>, then <text> is returned.
• The number of “neccesary repetitions” is (abs(<width>) - strlen(<text>)).
• If <width> is negative, then the return value is “neccesary repetitions” of the first character in <char> prepended to <text>.
• If <width> is positive, then the return value is “neccesary repetitions” of the first character in <char> appended to <text>.

This function is especially useful for forcing strings to a minimum length, possibly for a script that hooks and displays a /names reply.

<text> padded with a number of <char>s until its length is <length>

$pad(8 ! test)                       returns "test!!!!"

This function first appeared in EPIC4pre1.046