2 files changed, 36 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/src/auxiliary/functions.cc b/src/auxiliary/functions.cc
index 373a6f0..2b42bae 100644
--- a/src/auxiliary/functions.cc
+++ b/src/auxiliary/functions.cc
@@ -48,4 +48,32 @@ const std::string article(const char * word)
 	return w;
 }
 
+size_t text_length(const std::string &text)
+{
+	const char *c = text.c_str();
+	size_t len = 0;
+	while (*c) {
+		if (is_color_code(c)) {
+			c++;
+		} else {
+			len++;
+		}
+		c++;
+	}
+
+	return len;
+}
+
+const std::string spaces(const std::string &text,size_t n)
+{
+	size_t l = text_length(text);
+	if (n <= l)
+		return text;
+
+	std::string s;
+	s.assign(n-l, ' ');
+	s.append(text);
+	return s;
+}
+
 }
diff --git a/src/auxiliary/functions.h b/src/auxiliary/functions.h
index eff5143..cd9ed13 100644
--- a/src/auxiliary/functions.h
+++ b/src/auxiliary/functions.h
@@ -14,9 +14,10 @@
 namespace aux
 {
 
-/// if n != 1, append a plural s to word
+/// append an "s" to a word, depending on the amount
 const std::string plural(const char * word, size_t n);
 
+/// append an "s" to a word, depending on the amount
 inline const std::string plural(const std::string & word, size_t n) { return plural(word.c_str(), n); }
 
 /// prepend the "a" or "an" article to a word
@@ -29,6 +30,12 @@ inline bool is_base_color_code(char const *c) { return ((*c == '^') && (*(c+1) >
 inline bool is_core_color_code(char const *c) { return ((*c == '^') && (*(c+1) >= 'A') && (*(c+1) <= 'Z')); }
 
 inline bool is_color_code(char const *c) { return (is_base_color_code(c) || is_core_color_code(c)); }
+
+/// length of a string, excluding color codes
+size_t text_length(const std::string &text);
+
+/// prepend spaces to a string up to the desired lenght, excluding color codes
+const std::string spaces(const std::string &text, size_t n);
 }
 
 #endif // __INCLUDED_AUX_FUNCTIONS_H__