Problems with Num->String

Alright, this is not some dumb question about how (I know about itoa() ), but about a problem that it causes me. When it changes a number from its original form to a string, it cuts out any 0's before the actual numbers. Is there a way I can get it to leave these in? Example: long lMyNum = 0x0000F8AC; char *cpMyString; cpMyString = new char[8]; itoa(lMyNum,cpMyString,16); cout << ":" << lMyNum << ":" << endl; This small bit of code writes out ":F8AC:". I want it to write out ":0000F8AC:". This way, I can use it with my sockets stuff, and just place the length as a 4-byte ascii value (translated to a WORD via atoi(), and yes, I know I used a DWORD in the example), without having to put another single-character value in front of that (telling the length of the value that tells me the length of the rest of it). ----What I want: string: "Four" length: 4 send it as: 04Four ----What I have to do now: string: "Four" length: 4 sends as: 104Four Granted, it is not a whole lot of work to do, it is just annoying... [edited by - zackriggle on April 19, 2003 4:53:58 PM]