Val

val transforms a string or a CLOB value that contains a decimal representation of a number to this number.

Syntax

   val(STRING_EXPR)

• STRING_EXPR is a string expression.

Examples

  Local Char MY_STRING1(50),MY_STRING2(50), MY_STRING3(50), MY_STRING4(50), MY_STRING5(50)
  Local Decimal MY_PI, MY_HUGE, MY_SMALL
  Local Integer MY_HUNDRED
  Local Shortint MY_NEGATIVE
  Local TinyInt MY_FOUR
  Local Double MY_ZERO
  Local Float MY_VALUE
  MY_STRING1="3.14159265358979323846264338328"
  MY_PI=val(MY_STRING1) : # An approximation of pi
  MY_STRING1="3.14159.2653"
  MY_PI=val(MY_STRING1) : # Another approximation of pi (3.14159, transformation stops at the second '.')
  MY_STRING2=" 100"
  MY_HUNDRED=val(MY_STRING2) : # 100
  MY_STRING3="-99"
  MY_NEGATIVE=val(MY_STRING3) : # -99
  MY_STRING4="4A"
  MY_FOUR=val(MY_STRING4) : # 4
  MY_STRING5="A4"
  MY_ZERO=val(MY_STRING4) : # 0 (the first character is not a digit or a leading space)
  MY_STRING5="- 4"
  MY_ZERO=val(MY_STRING5) : # 0 (a space cannot be inserted between the sign and the digits)
  MY_STRING5="1 E40"
  MY_VALUE=val(MY_STRING5) : # 1 (a space cannot be inserted between the digits and the "E")
  MY_STRING6="10000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
  MY_HUGE=val(MY_STRING6) : # 10^40
  MY_STRING6="1e-40"
  MY_SMALL=val(MY_STRING6) : # 10^-40

Description

val returns a numeric value from a decimal representation of a number. Leading spaces are permitted, and the string is cut at the first character that is not a digit or the first dot (except if there is an exponent part with the format digitsEexponent).

The type of the result depends on the number returned. It can be TinyInt, Shortint, Integer, Float, Double, or Decimal.

Associated errors

Error code	Description
10	The argument is not a string.

See also

num$, format$.