How can I preserve the leader zero in a JIRA number custom field?

[Greg Warner]

I'm performing an import from a csv using the jelly runner. Is there a way I can maintain the leading zeros in a number field? Is the only option to use a text field?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

No, because numbers, by their definition, do not have leading zeroes. A number padded with unnecessary zeroes is a string. (How would a compute know how many zeroes to pad any given number with? Do you pad numbers with 0's in real life?)

You do have options though - find or write a field that holds numbers, but displays them with your padding