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 with leading zeros (e.g. 1 = 0001).

Answer 1

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 2

You need to use a Formatter, following code uses NumberFormat

    int inputNo = 1;
    NumberFormat nf = NumberFormat.getInstance();
    nf.setMaximumIntegerDigits(4);
    nf.setMinimumIntegerDigits(4);
    nf.setGroupingUsed(false);

    System.out.println("Formatted Integer : " + nf.format(inputNo));

Output: 0001

Answer 3

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 4

If performance is important in your case you could do it yourself with less overhead compared to the String.format function:

/**
 * @param in The integer value
 * @param fill The number of digits to fill
 * @return The given value left padded with the given number of digits
 */
public static String lPadZero(int in, int fill){

    boolean negative = false;
    int value, len = 0;

    if(in >= 0){
        value = in;
    } else {
        negative = true;
        value = - in;
        in = - in;
        len ++;
    }

    if(value == 0){
        len = 1;
    } else{         
        for(; value != 0; len ++){
            value /= 10;
        }
    }

    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

    if(negative){
        sb.append('-');
    }

    for(int i = fill; i > len; i--){
        sb.append('0');
    }

    sb.append(in);

    return sb.toString();       
}

Performance

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Random rdm;
    long start; 

    // Using own function
    rdm = new Random(0);
    start = System.nanoTime();

    for(int i = 10000000; i != 0; i--){
        lPadZero(rdm.nextInt(20000) - 10000, 4);
    }
    System.out.println("Own function: " + ((System.nanoTime() - start) / 1000000) + "ms");

    // Using String.format
    rdm = new Random(0);        
    start = System.nanoTime();

    for(int i = 10000000; i != 0; i--){
        String.format("%04d", rdm.nextInt(20000) - 10000);
    }
    System.out.println("String.format: " + ((System.nanoTime() - start) / 1000000) + "ms");
}

Result

Own function: 1697ms

String.format: 38134ms

Answer 5

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 6

Use java.lang.String.format(String,Object...) like this:

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

for zero-padding with a length of 5. For hexadecimal output replace the d with an x as in "%05x".

The full formatting options are documented as part of java.util.Formatter.