Integer or String for a phone number?

Question

I want to know if I have to use a string or an integer for a phone number?

I have tried an integer but I have a problem in my validation.

... table->integer('phone'); ...

In my validation, I must have between 8 and 11 characters.

I have tried this, but it doesn't work:

'phone' => 'required|numeric|between:8,11',

I think the string is better?

Possible duplicate of [What's the right way to represent phone numbers?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3483156/whats-the-right-way-to-represent-phone-numbers) (yes, that's a Java question, but the answer is the same: phone numbers are *always* strings) — IMSoP, Aug 11 '19 at 09:35
It's better if you read here before making any assumption on phone numbers: https://github.com/jameslk/awesome-falsehoods and here: https://github.com/google/libphonenumber/blob/master/FALSEHOODS.md So, IMHO, use a string — dparoli, Aug 11 '19 at 14:09

Kaz · Answer 1 · 2021-10-19T07:35:59.353

7

If you want to do some calculations with the numbers which you going to be storing (inserting), then you have to use int(in Laravel migration: it is integer) as the data type of the field. However If you do not want to do some calculations with it, then use the data type as varchar (in Laravel migration: it is string) as the data type of the field.

So, when it comes to storing Phone numbers, you can use the varchar data type as you do not have to do calculations with Phone numbers.

So in this case, your validation should be this:

'phone' => 'required|string|min:8|max:11'

edited Oct 19 '21 at 07:35

answered Aug 12 '19 at 08:40

Kaz

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+1 for this because in the future you may need to add the "+" symbol in your phone numbers or a "-" or another character. – padawanTony May 17 '22 at 17:31

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 20 '21 at 11:25

2

You can also use

'phone' => ' required|digits:10'

answered Sep 20 '21 at 11:25

Khn Rzk

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score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 11 '19 at 09:29

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I think the validation should be like this

'phone' => 'required|numeric|min:8|max:11',

answered Aug 11 '19 at 09:29

ashok poudel

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered May 03 '22 at 17:28

0

You can try this one:

'phone' => 'required|min:8|max:11|regex:/^([0-9\s\-\+\(\)]*)$/',

answered May 03 '22 at 17:28

Hesam Moosapour

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Integer or String for a phone number?

4 Answers4