prepending digits to an integer

[sevenfive]

i want to prepend a number with 5 digits to make a rolling id number generator.

eg 5 would become 000005

the following number would become 000006 etc etc...

is there a built in function that would do this? i cant find any ref in php manual...

cheers

[Norman_Graham]

Hi Sevenfive

I found the following function contributed by an unknown user to the page on number_format.

<?php
// $num = 4; $zerofill= 3; returns "004"
function zerofill ($num,$zerofill) {
   while (strlen($num)<$zerofill) {
       $num = "0".$num;
   }
   return $num;
}
?> 

I do, however, suggest you use the built-in functions of the MySQL DB to save having to code this kind of functionality yourself. Giving someone or something an ID which only exists within a dynamic PHP variable is not a great idea. Unless of course these IDs are only temporary.

HTH

Norm

[laserlight]

Actually, [man]sprintf/man can be used here, or its cousin printf(), e.g.

for ($i = 1; $i <= 20; ++$i) {
	printf("%06d<br />", $i);
}