How to Clean Up Inconsistent Zip Codes in MySQL and PHP?

MySQL Zip Code Cleanup with Zero Padding

In MySQL, you may encounter inconsistencies in zip code data, especially when dealing with values that start with "0." Often, these leading zeros are dropped during data entry, resulting in incomplete zip codes.

To rectify this, consider the following SQL solution:

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

This query uses the LPAD() function to pad any zip code with less than 5 digits with zeros. It checks the length of the existing zip code and adds the necessary number of zeros to the beginning.

Alternatively, you can modify the zip code column datatype to CHAR(5) using the following command:

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

This change forces the zip code column to have a fixed length of 5 characters, ensuring that all values are stored with the correct number of digits.

In PHP, you can also use the sprintf() function to format zip codes and pad them with zeros, as demonstrated below:

echo sprintf("%05d", 205); // prints 00205
echo sprintf("%05d", 1492); // prints 01492

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