> > I'm creating a new MySQL database from an existing Filemaker db.
> >
> > My problem is that some of the existing 'numbers' in one column (it
> > was a text field in FMP) have leading zeros. eg: 003, 0007, 012,
> > 001234. I need to maintain these numbers 'as is' - complete with
> > zeros. I've tried all the numeric data types and they all seem to
> > strip these leading zeros. Is it possible to have a numeric field
> > type which will maintain those zeros? I want this column to become
> > the primary key.
>
> "leading zeros" is a typical "display requirement".
>
> An integer value does not have something as leading zeros.
>
> Why not make the VARCHAR the PK and keep the datatype?
>
> Martijn Tonies
> Database Workbench - development tool for MySQL, and more!
The manual states (among other things) declaring a column:
int(6) zerofill
will left pad the column with zeros.
003 will become 000003.
