How to specify string padding with a variable in Python 2.5?
<p>For example:</p>

<pre><code>print('items %05d'%12)
</code></pre>

<p>would print 00012.</p>

<p>Can the amount of padding be specified by a variable instead of a literal?  I believe python 2.6+ has the .format function but what are the options with python 2.5?</p>
