code: def lineincols (inlist,colsize):
      
      outstr = ''
      for item in inlist:
          if type(item) != StringType:
              item = str(item)
          size = len(item)
          if size <= colsize:
              for i in range(colsize-size):
                  outstr = outstr + ' '
              outstr = outstr + item
          else:
              outstr = outstr + item[0:colsize+1]
      return outstr
docs: Returns a string composed of elements in inlist, with each element
  right-aligned in columns of (fixed) colsize.
  
  Usage:   lineincols (inlist,colsize)   where colsize is an integer