Here's a way to parse a decimal (eg 3.25) into an integer and exponent:<?if (preg_match("/^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$/",$input)){ //Input is a base-10 decimal. Multiply as necessary to remove the decimal //point. Convert that to a gmp_resource, then decrement the exponent //to compensate. $pieces=explode(".", $input); //Split at the d.p. $input="$pieces[0]$pieces[1]"; //Remove the decimal point. $input=ltrim($input,'0'); //Remove any leading zeros, or gmp_init will parse the number as octal. if ($input==''){ //Deal with "0.0" which would otherwise be ''. $input=0; } $integer=gmp_init($input); $ns_exponent=-strlen($pieces[1]); //exponent = (-) the number of characters after the decimal point.}?>