Bash + using printf in order to print in special format

bashprintfshell-script

I just wrote the following bash script to check the ping access on list of Linux machines:

for M in $list
 do
   ping -q -c 1  "$M" >/dev/null 
          if [[ $? -eq 0 ]]
   then
    echo "($C) $MACHINE CONNECTION OK"
   else
    echo "($C) $MACHINE CONNECTION FAIL"
   fi

   let C=$C+1
done

This prints:

 (1) linux643 CONNECTION OK
 (2) linux72 CONNECTION OK
 (3) linux862 CONNECTION OK
 (4) linux12 CONNECTION OK
 (5) linux88 CONNECTION OK
 (6) Unix_machinetru64 CONNECTION OK

How can I use printf (or any other command) in my bash script in order to print the following format? 

 (1) linux643 ............ CONNECTION OK
 (2) linux72 ............. CONNECTION OK
 (3) linux862 ............ CONNECTION OK
 (4) linux12 ............. CONNECTION OK
 (5) linux88 ............. CONNECTION FAIL
 (6) Unix_machinetru64 ... CONNECTION OK

Best Answer

Using parameter expansion to replace spaces resulting from %-s by dots:

#!/bin/bash
list=(localhost google.com nowhere)
C=1
for M in "${list[@]}"
do
    machine_indented=$(printf '%-20s' "$M")
    machine_indented=${machine_indented// /.}

    if ping -q -c 1  "$M" &>/dev/null ;  then
        printf "(%2d) %s CONNECTION OK\n" "$C" "$machine_indented"
    else
        printf "(%2d) %s CONNECTION FAIL\n" "$C" "$machine_indented"
    fi
    ((C=C+1))
done
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