I'm trying to use php to generate a 9 digit number that does not start with a 0 and is separated by dash every third number. e.g. 102-394-458 I'm also debating whether to store it as a number or do the formatting on the front end or to store it as a number and do the formatting on the backend or to just store the dashes in the database as well Of course the choice will affect how the number is generated.

Reputation: 119

How to generate a 9 digit number

I'm trying to use php to generate a 9 digit number that does not start with a 0 and is separated by dash every third number.

e.g. 102-394-458

I'm also debating whether

to store it as a number or do the formatting on the front end
or to store it as a number and do the formatting on the backend
or to just store the dashes in the database as well

Of course the choice will affect how the number is generated.

Upvotes: 3

Answers (4)

Vinko Vrsalovic

Reputation: 340191

Use number_format() on the frontend. Storing it formatted will mean you will have to "deformat" it if you want to perform any operation with it that requires it being a number.

The way to generate such a number is:

$number = mt_rand(100000000,999999999);

You can use number_format like this:

echo number_format($number,0,"","-");

Upvotes: 6

Mark Baker

Reputation: 212412

implode('-',str_split(rand(100000000,999999999),3))

Generally, it's probably better simply to store as a number, and format it with the - only for display purposes

Upvotes: 18

NikiC

Reputation: 101926

You should save as an unsigned integer in your database and format on display (but still on server-side, if this is what you mean by backend.)

To generate the number use

mt_rand(100000000, 999999999);

To display use:

wordwrap($number, 3, '-', true);

Upvotes: 4

tdammers

Reputation: 20721

Generate a random number between 1 and 9. Generate 8 random numbers between 0 and 9. Combine them into a string, adding dashes where desired.

Upvotes: 3

How to generate a 9 digit number

Answers (4)

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