adding ZEROES to existing mysql data? Should I use PHP?

[suryabuchwald]

I\'ve got fields full of values like:

 

S-1

AB-128

A-85

 

I need them to be:

 

S-0001

AB-0128

A-0085

 

etc. My possible idea is to write a script that will look through the records one by one, detect a number, and make sure it\'s four digits long. If it\'s not, add zeroes to the left until it is four digits, then UPDATE the row. Not quite sure how I would do this, but it seems possible (with my limited knowledge of PHP).

 

Thanks so much everyone!

[shivabharat]

Why do u have to pull out data and do it.

Try to do that when u are inserting values that would reduce the work.!

[suryabuchwald]

Ah, the wisdom of hindsight

Yes, all the data is now being entered in 4-digit format. However, we\'ve already entered some 2500 items - I\'d rather not redo them one by one. Management forgot to mention they wanted everything in a 4-digit format until now.

[holiks]

something along the lines of....

 

$sql = \'SELECT desired_field_or_all FROM ur_table\';



$result = @mysql_query($sql) or die(mysql_error());



while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))

{

  $field_value = $row[\'desired_field\'];

  list($part_a, $part_b) = explode(\'-\', $field_value);

  if(strlen($part_b) is less than 4)

  {

     //prepend 0\'s and implode with $part_a ...and a dash;)

     //of course this loop may go further becuase it could be 1, 2 or 3 less;

     //then update same field in db with new $field_value;

   }

 

..on a note i myself am learning php so the (pseudo)code may not be perfect

[suryabuchwald]

For anyone that\'s interested, I\'ll print the final code here.

 

There are some extra sections - I realized there were item numbers like S-MM-3 as well as just S-3, and these had to have a different handler. I\'m sure there\'s a much cleaner way to write all this code, but at this point it works, so I\'m not complaining. Here it is:

 

<?php do { ?>

<div align=\"center\"><font color=\"#333333\" face=\"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif\"><span>

<?php

//////////// FORMAT THE INFORMATION //////////

 

$field_value = $row_rs_mine[\'item_number\']; //take the item number into a variable

echo \"item number \" . $field_value; //echo to browser

$field_array = explode(\'-\', $field_value); //split number into array, separating on -\'s

 

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

 

 

$array_count = count($field_array); // count the number of items in the array

 

///////////// SCRIPT FOR TWO-PART ARRAY //////////

 

 

if ($array_count == \'2\') { // if the array has only two parts, deal with the second part

list($part_a, $part_B) = explode(\'-\', $field_value); // split the array into usable parts

if(strlen($part_B) < \'4\') // check if the number is okay as-is

if(strlen($part_B) == \'1\') { //add the appropriate number of zeroes

$part_b = \"000\" . $part_b;

} elseif (strlen($part_B) == \'2\') {

$part_b = \"00\" . $part_b;

} elseif (strlen($part_B) == \'3\') {

$part_b = \"0\" . $part_b;

};

$item_number_fixed = $part_a . \"-\" . $part_b; // restore original format

echo \" was turned into: \" . $item_number_fixed . \"<br />\";

$item_id_string = $row_rs_mine[\'item_id\'];

$update_sql = \"UPDATE pieces SET item_number = \'$item_number_fixed\' WHERE item_id = \'$item_id_string\'\";

mysql_query($update_sql, $conn_candyvision) or die(mysql_error());

 

////////// SCRIPT FOR THREE_PART ARRAY //////////////

 

} elseif ($array_count == \'3\'){

list($part_a, $part_b, $part_c) = explode(\'-\', $field_value); // split the array into usable parts

if(strlen($part_c) < \'4\') // check if the number is okay as-is

if(strlen($part_c) == \'1\') { //add the appropriate number of zeroes

$part_c = \"000\" . $part_c;

} elseif (strlen($part_c) == \'2\') {

$part_c = \"00\" . $part_c;

} elseif (strlen($part_c) == \'3\') {

$part_c = \"0\" . $part_c;

};

$item_number_fixed = $part_a . \"-\" . $part_b . \"-\" . $part_c; // restore original format

echo \" was turned into:\" . $item_number_fixed . \"<br />\";

$item_id_string = $row_rs_mine[\'item_id\'];

$update_sql = \"UPDATE pieces SET item_number = \'$item_number_fixed\' WHERE item_id = \'$item_id_string\'\";

mysql_query($update_sql, $conn_candyvision) or die(mysql_error());

 

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

 

////////// SCRIPT FOR LARGER ARRAY /////////////////

} elseif ($array_count > \'3\'){

echo \" was left alone.\";

};

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

 

 

?>

</span></font> </div>

<?php } while ($row_rs_mine = mysql_fetch_assoc($rs_mine)); ?>