public String pad(String value,int places,String padCharacter){
  StringBuilder sb=new StringBuilder();
  sb.append(value);
  while (sb.length() < places) {
    sb.append(padCharacter);
  }
  return sb.toString();
}

public String pad ( String value , int places , String padCharacter ) { StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder ( ) ; sb . append ( value ) ; while ( sb . length ( ) < places ) { sb . append ( padCharacter ) ; } return sb . toString ( ) ; }
pads spaces onto the end of the value to make it ' places ' long
