Spectre.Console Documentation

The Padder widget wraps any renderable content with configurable padding on all sides.

When to Use

Use Padder when you need to control whitespace and spacing around content. Common scenarios:

Visual separation: Add breathing room between consecutive widgets or sections
Indentation and hierarchy: Create visual structure by indenting nested content
Fine-tuned layout: Achieve precise spacing when containers like Panel have fixed padding

For centering content horizontally or vertically, use Align instead. For content with a border and built-in padding, use Panel instead.

Basic Usage

Wrap any renderable with new Padder(content). By default, adds 1 space padding on all sides.

var text = new Markup("[bold blue]Important Message[/]");
var padded = new Padder(text);
  
AnsiConsole.Write(padded);

Setting Padding

Uniform Padding

Pass a single value to new Padding() to apply the same padding on all four sides.

var text = new Markup("[yellow]Status: Active[/]");
  
var padded = new Padder(text, new Padding(3));
  
AnsiConsole.Write(padded);

Horizontal and Vertical

Use the two-parameter constructor to set horizontal (left/right) and vertical (top/bottom) padding independently.

var text = new Markup("[green]Success![/]");
  
// 4 spaces left/right, 2 lines top/bottom
var padded = new Padder(text, new Padding(4, 2));
  
AnsiConsole.Write(padded);

Individual Sides

Use the four-parameter constructor to control each side precisely when you need asymmetric spacing.

var text = new Markup("[red]Error detected[/]");
  
// Left: 2, Top: 1, Right: 6, Bottom: 1
var padded = new Padder(text, new Padding(2, 1, 6, 1));
  
AnsiConsole.Write(padded);

Using Extension Methods

Use the fluent PadLeft(), PadRight(), PadTop(), and PadBottom() extension methods to adjust individual sides after construction.

var text = new Markup("[cyan]Notification[/]");
  
var padded = new Padder(text)
    .PadLeft(5)
    .PadRight(5)
    .PadTop(2)
    .PadBottom(2);
  
AnsiConsole.Write(padded);

Working with Other Widgets

With Panels

Wrap panels with padding to add outer spacing when the panel's internal padding isn't sufficient.

var panel = new Panel("[yellow]Warning:[/] Low disk space")
    .BorderColor(Color.Yellow)
    .Header("System Alert");
  
var padded = new Padder(panel, new Padding(3, 1));
  
AnsiConsole.Write(padded);

With Tables

Add padding around tables to separate them from surrounding content or create margins.

var table = new Table()
    .AddColumn("Name")
    .AddColumn("Status")
    .AddRow("Service A", "[green]Running[/]")
    .AddRow("Service B", "[red]Stopped[/]");
  
var padded = new Padder(table, new Padding(2, 1, 2, 1));
  
AnsiConsole.Write(padded);

Controlling Width

By default, Padder automatically calculates width based on content. Set Expand = true to fill the available width, which affects how padding appears.

var text = new Markup("[blue]Left aligned text[/]");
  
AnsiConsole.MarkupLine("[yellow]Auto-width (default):[/]");
var autoWidth = new Padder(text, new Padding(2));
AnsiConsole.Write(autoWidth);
  
AnsiConsole.WriteLine();
AnsiConsole.MarkupLine("[yellow]Expanded to fill width:[/]");
var expanded = new Padder(text, new Padding(2))
{
    Expand = true
};
AnsiConsole.Write(expanded);

Advanced Usage

Nested Padding

Nest multiple Padder instances to create compound spacing effects or complex layouts.

var content = new Markup("[bold white on blue] Inner Content [/]");
  
var innerPadder = new Padder(content, new Padding(2, 1));
var outerPadder = new Padder(innerPadder, new Padding(4, 2));
  
AnsiConsole.Write(outerPadder);

Creating Visual Structure

Use targeted padding on specific sides to build structured layouts with headers, body content, and footers.

var header = new Padder(
    new Markup("[bold underline]Application Dashboard[/]"),
    new Padding(0, 0, 0, 1));
  
var body = new Padder(
    new Markup("System running normally\nAll services operational"),
    new Padding(2, 1));
  
var footer = new Padder(
    new Markup("[dim]Last updated: 2024-11-24[/]"),
    new Padding(0, 1, 0, 0));
  
AnsiConsole.Write(header);
AnsiConsole.Write(body);
AnsiConsole.Write(footer);

API Reference

Represents padding around a object.

Constructors

Padder(IRenderable child, Nullable<Padding> padding)

Initializes a new instance of the class.

Parameters:

child (IRenderable)

The thing to pad.

padding (Nullable<Padding>)

The padding. Defaults to 1,1,1,1 if null.

Properties

Expand : bool

Gets or sets a value indicating whether or not the padding should fit the available space. If false, the padding width will be auto calculated. Defaults to false.

Padding : Nullable<Padding>

Extension Methods

IEnumerable<Segment> GetSegments(IAnsiConsole console)

Gets the segments for a renderable using the specified console.