# Formatter - Align Column Aliases - measures bytes, not chars

**URL:** <https://forums.toadworld.com/t/formatter-align-column-aliases-measures-bytes-not-chars/58660>\
**Category:** Toad for Oracle & DevOps Toolkit\
**Created:** [December 12, 2023, 9:22am UTC](https://forums.toadworld.com/t/formatter-align-column-aliases-measures-bytes-not-chars/58660 "2023-12-12T09:22:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mart.tars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@mart.tars](https://forums.toadworld.com/u/mart.tars)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 9:22am UTC](https://forums.toadworld.com/t/formatter-align-column-aliases-measures-bytes-not-chars/58660/1 "2023-12-12T09:22:10Z")

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Hi!

When formatting DML statements in Editor, position for aligned column aliases seams to be measured in bytes, not characters - so alignment is distorted for non-ascii characters:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/quest/original/3X/5/f/5f7d7b8260f7b7e6e1d96a8aa6f81e307e726c2f.png)

Not a big problem but I (Märt) am a non-ascii fan 😉  
So if this nice-to-have feature (measure position for aligned column aliases in characters instead of bytes) can have enough priority and enough fans then it would be nice.

"Align Column Aliases" can be reached in "Toad for Oracle 17" by View \> Toad Options \> Formatter \> Oracle Formatter Options \> Alignments \> DML statements \> Align Column Aliases.

Thanks, Märt

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**Author:** ![avergison](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/quest/user_avatar/forums.toadworld.com/avergison/32/66_2.png) [@avergison](https://forums.toadworld.com/u/avergison)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2023, 10:24am UTC](https://forums.toadworld.com/t/formatter-align-column-aliases-measures-bytes-not-chars/58660/2 "2023-12-13T10:24:59Z")

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Grüβe Märt,

This is related to post [Formatting Code (Ctrl+Shif+F)](https://forums.toadworld.com/t/formatting-code-ctrl-shif-f/57991) .  
What version of component QP5.dll do you see in the Toad folder? Version 5.402 (and later) should fix the problem - at least for the single spaced characters such as ä, Ü etc.

I'd be happy to get to know your findings,

Thanks,  
Andre

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**Author:** ![mart.tars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@mart.tars](https://forums.toadworld.com/u/mart.tars)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://forums.toadworld.com/t/formatter-align-column-aliases-measures-bytes-not-chars/58660/3 "2023-12-20T12:26:41Z")

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Yes, Andre, the QP5.dll is 5.401 - so when I install next version of Toad for Oracle (when 17.1 or later is launched) the QP5.dll has also never version and then I will try it out (with success 😉 ).

Thanks anyway for fixing!