How to Ensure 5-Digit Zip Codes in MySQL Using LPAD() or ALTER TABLE?

How to Pad Zeroes to Zip Code in MySQL?

In a MySQL database, when dealing with zip code data, it is often encountered that some zip codes have their leading zeros removed. To clean up such data and ensure it contains the correct 5-digit format, a SQL query can be utilized.

To front pad zeroes to zip codes that are less than 5 digits in length, the LPAD() function can be employed. This function takes three arguments: the column to be padded, the desired total length of the string, and the character to be used for padding.

In this case, the following SQL query can be run to front pad zeroes:

UPDATE table SET `zip`=LPAD(`zip`, 5, '0');

This query will update the 'zip' column in the specified table by padding any zip code that is less than 5 digits long with zeroes. For example, if the original zip code is '544', it will be padded to '00544'.

Alternatively, the datatype of the 'zip' column can be changed to CHAR(5) using the ALTER TABLE command. This will ensure that the zip code is stored as a fixed-length string and will automatically pad any missing characters with zeroes.

ALTER TABLE `table` CHANGE `zip` `zip` CHAR(5);

By using either of these methods, zip code data can be cleaned up and padded with the appropriate number of zeroes, ensuring data integrity and consistency.

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