String help

[pzt_penguin]

Hi

I've been trying to think of a way to do this all night. I need to search for people
by zip codes that are in my database. I have every thing down except that I need
to shrink the zip code down to the first 3 numbers. That way I can get a wider area
in my search results.

So my question is how can I take off the last two digits of the zip code after I put it into a variable from the DB?

Thanks

[NogDog]

$zip_search = '123';
$sql = "SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE zip_code LIKE '$zip_search%'"; // note '%'