# Expand Value to 3 digits
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/expand-value-to-3-digits/21690
**Category:** General
**Created:** [14 February 2020 10:51 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/expand-value-to-3-digits/21690 "2020-02-14T10:51:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ebnerjoh](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ebnerjoh)
#### Post date: [14 February 2020 10:51 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/expand-value-to-3-digits/21690/1 "2020-02-14T10:51:45Z")
Hi,
I have a function which delivers me a value from 0.0 to 999.9
e.g.: 8.3, 14.5, 342.9
I need to expand the value before the comma to 3 digits.
e.g. 008.3, 014.5, 342.9
How can I do this?
Br,
Johannes
---
### Author:  [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)
#### Post date: [14 February 2020 10:58 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/expand-value-to-3-digits/21690/2 "2020-02-14T10:58:24Z")
If the value is already a String type and you know it will always have a decimal point and one digit after it, then you could do:
```auto
var value = "8.3";
value = value.padStart(5,"0");
// value is now "008.3"
```
But if the value is a Number type to begin with, you'll also have to deal with formatting the decimal point and the single digit after it. This is because a simple toString of the number 1.0 will give you `"1"` not `"1.0"`. So for that, you can use the `toFixed` function:
```auto
var value = 1.0;
value = value.toFixed(1).padStart(5,"0");
```
---
### Author:  [@ebnerjoh](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ebnerjoh)
#### Post date: [14 February 2020 11:16 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/expand-value-to-3-digits/21690/3 "2020-02-14T11:16:56Z")
I have tried the follwoing:
```auto
var value = msg;
value = value.padStart(5,"0");
return msg;
```
Getting errormessage:
```auto
TypeError: value.padStart is not a function
```
---
### Author:  [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)
#### Post date: [14 February 2020 11:26 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/expand-value-to-3-digits/21690/4 "2020-02-14T11:26:13Z")
`padStart` is a function of String objects. In your code, you are assigning `value` to `msg`. That isn't what you want. I would guess the value you want is in `msg.payload`.
---
### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [14 February 2020 11:36 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/expand-value-to-3-digits/21690/5 "2020-02-14T11:36:55Z")
Have a read through this guide to working with messages in node-red
[https://nodered.org/docs/user-guide/messages](https://nodered.org/docs/user-guide/messages)
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [28 February 2020 11:36 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/expand-value-to-3-digits/21690/6 "2020-02-28T11:36:55Z")
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