Question

I have an int, for example say 45. I want to get NSString from this int padded with 4 zeroes. So the result would be : @"0045". Similar, if the int is 9, I want to get: @"0009".

I know I can count the number of digits, then subtract it from how many zeroes i want padded, and prepend that number to the string, but is there a more elegant way? Thanks.

Answer 1

Try this:

NSLog(@"%04d", 45);
NSLog(@"%04d", 9);

If it works, then you can get padded number with

NSString *paddedNumber = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%04d", 45];
NSString *otherPaddedNumber = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%04d", 9];

Update

If you want to have arbitrary number you’d have to create a format for your format:

// create "%04d" format string
NSString *paddingFormat = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%%0%dd", 4];

// use it for padding numbers
NSString *paddedNumber = [NSString stringWithFormat:paddingFormat, 45];
NSString *otherPaddedNumber = [NSString stringWithFormat:paddingFormat, 9];

Update 2

Please see @Ibmurai’s comment on how to properly pad a number with NSLog.