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.
}
?>