Number Length

[joshmpratt]

I've got a number that MUST be 3 numbers long. It starts at 001 and works it's way up to 999. I'm just not sure how to format this with php. If I do this:

$a = 013;
echo $a;

It outputs: 11

Once it gets to 100, it will work fine, but I need a way to keep the zero in front of the number until it gets there.

Also, I will be pulling this information from a database, and the number is stored as a string. So, how would I convert '013' to the integer 013? I've got to pull it from the database, convert it to an integer, add one, convert it back to a string, and then update the database with the new number. How do I do all that converting?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks,

[void_function]

1. Get number from database into $int.
2. Add one: $int+= 1;
3. Convert to string: $str= ($int < 100) ? ('0'.(($int<10) ? ('0'.$int) : ($int))) : (''.$int)
4. Put back into database

OR

Keep the number in database as integer, update with "UPDATE table SET field=field+1 WHERE whereclause", and when you need to present it on a webpage, padded with zeroes, use step #3.

[thorpe]

You might also try playing around with [man]str_pad/man.

[NogDog]

You can also use sprintf() or printf():

$number = 1;
// save to string variable:
$formatted = sprintf('%03d', $number);
// or go direct to output:
printf('%03d', $number);