How can I pad an integer with zeros on the left?

Question

How do you left pad an int with zeros when converting to a String in java?

I\'m basically looking to pad out integers up to 9999

Answer 1

Found this example... Will test...

import java.text.DecimalFormat;
class TestingAndQualityAssuranceDepartment
{
    public static void main(String [] args)
    {
        int x=1;
        DecimalFormat df = new DecimalFormat("00");
        System.out.println(df.format(x));
    }
}

Tested this and:

String.format("%05d",number);

Both work, for my purposes I think String.Format is better and more succinct.

Answer 2

Here is another way to pad an integer with zeros on the left. You can increase the number of zeros as per your convenience. Have added a check to return the same value as is in case of negative number or a value greater than or equals to zeros configured. You can further modify as per your requirement.

/**
 * 
 * @author Dinesh.Lomte
 *
 */
public class AddLeadingZerosToNum {
    
    /**
     * 
     * @param args
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        System.out.println(getLeadingZerosToNum(0));
        System.out.println(getLeadingZerosToNum(7));
        System.out.println(getLeadingZerosToNum(13));
        System.out.println(getLeadingZerosToNum(713));
        System.out.println(getLeadingZerosToNum(7013));
        System.out.println(getLeadingZerosToNum(9999));
    }
    /**
     * 
     * @param num
     * @return
     */
    private static String getLeadingZerosToNum(int num) {
        // Initializing the string of zeros with required size
        String zeros = new String("0000");
        // Validating if num value is less then zero or if the length of number 
        // is greater then zeros configured to return the num value as is
        if (num < 0 || String.valueOf(num).length() >= zeros.length()) {
            return String.valueOf(num);
        }
        // Returning zeros in case if value is zero.
        if (num == 0) {
            return zeros;
        }
        return new StringBuilder(zeros.substring(0, zeros.length() - 
                String.valueOf(num).length())).append(
                        String.valueOf(num)).toString();
    }
}

Input

0

7

13

713

7013

9999

Output

0000

0007

0013

7013

9999

Answer 3

If you for any reason use pre 1.5 Java then may try with Apache Commons Lang method

org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils.leftPad(String str, int size, '0')

Answer 4

You can use Google Guava:

Maven:

<dependency>
     <artifactId>guava</artifactId>
     <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
     <version>14.0.1</version>
</dependency>

Sample code:

String paddedString1 = Strings.padStart("7", 3, '0'); //"007"
String paddedString2 = Strings.padStart("2020", 3, '0'); //"2020"

Note:

Guava is very useful library, it also provides lots of features which related to Collections, Caches, Functional idioms, Concurrency, Strings, Primitives, Ranges, IO, Hashing, EventBus, etc

Ref: GuavaExplained

Answer 5

Let's say you want to print 11 as 011

You could use a formatter: "%03d".

You can use this formatter like this:

int a = 11;
String with3digits = String.format("%03d", a);
System.out.println(with3digits);

Alternatively, some java methods directly support these formatters:

System.out.printf("%03d", a);

Answer 6

public static String zeroPad(long number, int width) {
   long wrapAt = (long)Math.pow(10, width);
   return String.valueOf(number % wrapAt + wrapAt).substring(1);
}

The only problem with this approach is that it makes you put on your thinking hat to figure out how it works.