How do I parse a string with a decimal point to a double?

Question

I want to parse a string like \"3.5\" to a double. However,

double.Parse(\"3.5\") 

yields 35 and

double.Pars         


        

Answer 1

I think 100% correct conversion isn't possible, if the value comes from a user input. e.g. if the value is 123.456, it can be a grouping or it can be a decimal point. If you really need 100% you have to describe your format and throw an exception if it is not correct.

But I improved the code of JanW, so we get a little bit more ahead to the 100%. The idea behind is, that if the last separator is a groupSeperator, this would be more an integer type, than a double.

The added code is in the first if of GetDouble.

void Main()
{
    List inputs = new List() {
        "1.234.567,89",
        "1 234 567,89",
        "1 234 567.89",
        "1,234,567.89",
        "1234567,89",
        "1234567.89",
        "123456789",
        "123.456.789",
        "123,456,789,"
    };

    foreach(string input in inputs) {
        Console.WriteLine(GetDouble(input,0d));
    }

}

public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue) {
    double result;
    string output;

    // Check if last seperator==groupSeperator
    string groupSep = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.NumberFormat.NumberGroupSeparator;
    if (value.LastIndexOf(groupSep) + 4 == value.Count())
    {
        bool tryParse = double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result);
        result = tryParse ? result : defaultValue;
    }
    else
    {
        // Unify string (no spaces, only . )
        output = value.Trim().Replace(" ", string.Empty).Replace(",", ".");

        // Split it on points
        string[] split = output.Split('.');

        if (split.Count() > 1)
        {
            // Take all parts except last
            output = string.Join(string.Empty, split.Take(split.Count()-1).ToArray());

            // Combine token parts with last part
            output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
        }
        // Parse double invariant
        result = double.Parse(output, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
    }
    return result;
}