Preserving the string

I have a problem using barcodes. They are variable in length (up to 13 integers). I had to add them to the tables a strings (varchar(13)) to preserve the leading zeros that are not uncommon. The problem comes with inserting these barcodes into other tables (passing them using href). When using a shopping cart application and inserting the barcode from the product table into the items table (to store the user's shopping cart contents), the leading zeros are lost. Needless to say that using the original tables with the true barcodes to verify the contents of the user's cart for purchases and pricing subsequently fails. Is there a way to ensure the string is preserved in its entirety when added to a new table using scripts? Michael Conway mconway3@cox.net (703) 968-8875