Store postcode with 0 in front

Question

I have sets of postcodes range: e.g:

city: kangar, postcode range: >00099 - <02600
city: alor setar, postcode range: > 04999 - <07000 .....

user will key in their address along with postcode, then the system should check the postcode in which range?

issue: I cannot store the postcode with '0' in the front if I used int as data type but if I use string, then I cannot use < @ > @ <= @ >= operation. Do you have any idea on this matter? Thank you in advance.

Sure you can use `<` / `>` etc. operators with strings – it will do a lexicographical comparison. — AKX, Sep 30 '22 at 08:53
not everything that is called a "number" is a numeric data type. if leading zeroes are important, use a string. case closed. — Franz Gleichmann, Sep 30 '22 at 09:03
Also be aware that postcodes in some territories also include non-numeric characters. — jason.kaisersmith, Sep 30 '22 at 09:13

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 30 '22 at 09:06

There is no way to store a number as an integer with any leading zeros. You decide the number of leading zeroes when converting the number to text, For example myZipCode.ToString("00000").

However, you should probably read Is it a good idea to use an integer column for storing US ZIP codes in a database. That suggest you should use a string for the postcode, and the same would apply to most other kinds of address.

As AKX mentions, you can still compare strings, it will just use lexographical comparison. But that should not be a problem if you have a fixed number of digits.

Store postcode with 0 in front

1 Answers1