Pad a string with leading zeros so it's 3 characters long in SQL Server 2008

Question

I have a string that is up to 3 characters long when it\'s first created in SQL Server 2008 R2.

I would like to pad it with leading zeros, so if its original value w

Answer 1

Use this function which suits every situation.

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.fnNumPadLeft (@input INT, @pad tinyint)
RETURNS VARCHAR(250)
AS BEGIN
    DECLARE @NumStr VARCHAR(250)

    SET @NumStr = LTRIM(@input)

    IF(@pad > LEN(@NumStr))
        SET @NumStr = REPLICATE('0', @Pad - LEN(@NumStr)) + @NumStr;

    RETURN @NumStr;
END

Sample output

SELECT [dbo].[fnNumPadLeft] (2016,10) -- returns 0000002016
SELECT [dbo].[fnNumPadLeft] (2016,5) -- returns 02016
SELECT [dbo].[fnNumPadLeft] (2016,2) -- returns 2016
SELECT [dbo].[fnNumPadLeft] (2016,0) -- returns 2016