from typing import Optional


def fixed_width(in_str: str, width: int, align: Optional[str] = "<") -> str:
    """Creates fixed width string of width <width>

    Parameters
    ----------
    in_str : str
        input string
    width : int
        width of string
    align : Optional[str]
        alignment of text in whitespace

    Returns
    -------
    str
        fixed width string
    """
    return f"{in_str:{align}{width}}"