You're looking for the str_pad function. http://www.php.net/str_pad
$i = 3; $i = str_pad($i, 5, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT); echo $i; // outputs '00003'
Just keep in mind that it won't help you if your input is greater than 5 to begin with, you'll have to check that seperately.
You can also have a look at http://nl.php.net/manual/en/function.sprintf.php
Example 5. sprintf(): zero-padded integers $isodate = sprintf("%04d-%02d-%02d", $year, $month, $day);
if it is only for output, have a look at http://nl.php.net/manual/en/function.printf.php
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