padding longs

I am doing some math using longs which will yield numbers like 5, 10, 20, etc
but I always need to pad the result to be 3 digits.
What's the best way to do that?

dpalyca755

Asked: 2012-04-05

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Java

3 Solutions

LVL 14

CPColinSenior Java ArchitectCommented: 2012-04-05

Using zeros in a DecimalFormat will work:

new DecimalFormat("000").format(x);

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LVL 23

wdosanjosCommented: 2012-04-05

Use the DecimalFormat class. Here is an example:

import java.text.*;

public class Test
{
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        DecimalFormat formatter = new DecimalFormat("000");
        long nbr = 50;

        String fmt_nbr = formatter.format(nbr);

        System.out.println(fmt_nbr);
        
        /*
        
        Output:
        
        050
        
        */
     }
}

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dpalyca755Author Commented: 2012-04-05

Can I use the String Format method to do so?
What is the syntax if do so?
let's say the 5 I referenced earlier is stored in the variable myString.

LVL 14

CPColinSenior Java ArchitectCommented: 2012-04-05

Assuming you have a long, it would be something like this:

String.format("%03d", myLong);

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The "0" means "pad with zeros," the "3" means "make the output three characters wide," and the "d" means "output a number."

dpalyca755Author Commented: 2012-04-05

I can't compile that for some reason.
I tried that exact line too.
What am I doing wrong?

Code Snippet:
long c = 5;
String pad2 = String.format("%03d", c);
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Error:
test.java:51: cannot resolve symbol
symbol : method format (java.lang.String,long)
location: class java.lang.String
String pad2 = String.format("%03d", c);
^
1 error

LVL 14

CPColinSenior Java ArchitectCommented: 2012-04-05

I've only seen that happen when using a version of Java older than 1.5 or when I've told the compiler to pretend like its from an old version of Java. Do you know if that's happening?

dpalyca755Author Commented: 2012-04-05

Yup....I was accidentally pointing to an older version.
I fixed it. Works now.
Thanks.

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