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_SMALLLocal Integer MY_HUNDREDLocal Shortint MY_NEGATIVELocal TinyInt MY_FOURLocal Double MY_ZEROLocal Float MY_VALUEMY_STRING1="3.14159265358979323846264338328"MY_PI=val(MY_STRING1) : # An approximation of piMY_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) : # 100MY_STRING3="-99"MY_NEGATIVE=val(MY_STRING3) : # -99MY_STRING4="4A"MY_FOUR=val(MY_STRING4) : # 4MY_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) : # 10^40MY_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

See also

num$, format$.