This is a variant of the version that I use. I've modified it to use the same arguments as the one given in the article. I liked the comment given about a center orientation. Perhaps I'll modify this to include that feature as well.

-- =============================================

-- Author:Aaron N. Cutshall

-- Create date: 21-Apr-2008

-- Description:Pad string with given character for length given

-- =============================================

ALTER FUNCTION fn_PadStr(

@OrigStr varchar(512),

@PadChar char(1) = ' ',

@Length int,

@Orientation char(1) = 'L')

RETURNS varchar(512)

AS

BEGIN

RETURN CASE WHEN @Orientation = 'R' THEN @OrigStr ELSE '' END +

REPLICATE(@PadChar, @Length - LEN(@OrigStr)) +

CASE WHEN @Orientation = 'L' THEN @OrigStr ELSE '' END

END