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 usualy use a multi-culture function to parse user input, mostly because if someone is used to the numpad and is using a culture that use a comma as the decimal separator, that person will use the point of the numpad instead of a comma.

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

    //Try parsing in the current culture
    if (!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result) &&
        //Then try in US english
        !double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), out result) &&
        //Then in neutral language
        !double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result))
    {
        result = defaultValue;
    }

    return result;
}

Beware though, @nikie comments are true. To my defense, I use this function in a controlled environment where I know that the culture can either be en-US, en-CA or fr-CA. I use this function because in French, we use the comma as a decimal separator, but anybody who ever worked in finance will always use the decimal separator on the numpad, but this is a point, not a comma. So even in the fr-CA culture, I need to parse number that will have a point as the decimal separator.