(Built-in) way in JavaScript to check if a string is a valid number

Question

I\'m hoping there\'s something in the same conceptual space as the old VB6 IsNumeric() function?

Answer 1

You can use the result of Number when passing an argument to its constructor.

If the argument (a string) cannot be converted into a number, it returns NaN, so you can determinate if the string provided was a valid number or not.

Notes: Note when passing empty string or '\t\t' and '\n\t' as Number will return 0; Passing true will return 1 and false returns 0.

    Number('34.00') // 34
    Number('-34') // -34
    Number('123e5') // 12300000
    Number('123e-5') // 0.00123
    Number('999999999999') // 999999999999
    Number('9999999999999999') // 10000000000000000 (integer accuracy up to 15 digit)
    Number('0xFF') // 255
    Number('Infinity') // Infinity  

    Number('34px') // NaN
    Number('xyz') // NaN
    Number('true') // NaN
    Number('false') // NaN

    // cavets
    Number('    ') // 0
    Number('\t\t') // 0
    Number('\n\t') // 0

Answer 2

I recently wrote an article about ways to ensure a variable is a valid number: https://github.com/jehugaleahsa/artifacts/blob/master/2018/typescript_num_hack.md The article explains how to ensure floating point or integer, if that's important (+x vs ~~x).

The article assumes the variable is a string or a number to begin with and trim is available/polyfilled. It wouldn't be hard to extend it to handle other types, as well. Here's the meat of it:

// Check for a valid float
if (x == null
    || ("" + x).trim() === ""
    || isNaN(+x)) {
    return false;  // not a float
}

// Check for a valid integer
if (x == null
    || ("" + x).trim() === ""
    || ~~x !== +x) {
    return false;  // not an integer
}

Answer 3

This appears to catch the seemingly infinite number of edge cases:

function isNumber(x, noStr) {
    /*

        - Returns true if x is either a finite number type or a string containing only a number
        - If empty string supplied, fall back to explicit false
        - Pass true for noStr to return false when typeof x is "string", off by default

        isNumber(); // false
        isNumber([]); // false
        isNumber([1]); // false
        isNumber([1,2]); // false
        isNumber(''); // false
        isNumber(null); // false
        isNumber({}); // false
        isNumber(true); // false
        isNumber('true'); // false
        isNumber('false'); // false
        isNumber('123asdf'); // false
        isNumber('123.asdf'); // false
        isNumber(undefined); // false
        isNumber(Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY); // false
        isNumber(Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY); // false
        isNumber('Infinity'); // false
        isNumber('-Infinity'); // false
        isNumber(Number.NaN); // false
        isNumber(new Date('December 17, 1995 03:24:00')); // false
        isNumber(0); // true
        isNumber('0'); // true
        isNumber(123); // true
        isNumber(123.456); // true
        isNumber(-123.456); // true
        isNumber(-.123456); // true
        isNumber('123'); // true
        isNumber('123.456'); // true
        isNumber('.123'); // true
        isNumber(.123); // true
        isNumber(Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER); // true
        isNumber(Number.MAX_VALUE); // true
        isNumber(Number.MIN_VALUE); // true
        isNumber(new Number(123)); // true
    */

    return (
        (typeof x === 'number' || x instanceof Number || (!noStr && x && typeof x === 'string' && !isNaN(x))) &&
        isFinite(x)
    ) || false;
};

Answer 4

I used this function as a form validation tool, and I didn't want users to be able to write exponential function, so I came up with this function:

<script>

    function isNumber(value, acceptScientificNotation) {

        if(true !== acceptScientificNotation){
            return /^-{0,1}\d+(\.\d+)?$/.test(value);
        }

        if (true === Array.isArray(value)) {
            return false;
        }
        return !isNaN(parseInt(value, 10));
    }


    console.log(isNumber(""));              // false
    console.log(isNumber(false));           // false
    console.log(isNumber(true));            // false
    console.log(isNumber("0"));             // true
    console.log(isNumber("0.1"));           // true
    console.log(isNumber("12"));            // true
    console.log(isNumber("-12"));           // true
    console.log(isNumber(-45));             // true
    console.log(isNumber({jo: "pi"}));      // false
    console.log(isNumber([]));              // false
    console.log(isNumber([78, 79]));        // false
    console.log(isNumber(NaN));             // false
    console.log(isNumber(Infinity));        // false
    console.log(isNumber(undefined));       // false
    console.log(isNumber("0,1"));           // false



    console.log(isNumber("1e-1"));          // false
    console.log(isNumber("1e-1", true));    // true
</script>

Answer 5

parseInt(), but be aware that this function is a bit different in the sense that it for example returns 100 for parseInt("100px").

Answer 6

Old question, but there are several points missing in the given answers.

Scientific notation.

!isNaN('1e+30') is true, however in most of the cases when people ask for numbers, they do not want to match things like 1e+30.

Large floating numbers may behave weird

Observe (using Node.js):

> var s = Array(16 + 1).join('9')
undefined
> s.length
16
> s
'9999999999999999'
> !isNaN(s)
true
> Number(s)
10000000000000000
> String(Number(s)) === s
false
>

On the other hand:

> var s = Array(16 + 1).join('1')
undefined
> String(Number(s)) === s
true
> var s = Array(15 + 1).join('9')
undefined
> String(Number(s)) === s
true
>

So, if one expects String(Number(s)) === s, then better limit your strings to 15 digits at most (after omitting leading zeros).

Infinity

> typeof Infinity
'number'
> !isNaN('Infinity')
true
> isFinite('Infinity')
false
>

Given all that, checking that the given string is a number satisfying all of the following:

• non scientific notation
• predictable conversion to Number and back to String
• finite

is not such an easy task. Here is a simple version:

  function isNonScientificNumberString(o) {
    if (!o || typeof o !== 'string') {
      // Should not be given anything but strings.
      return false;
    }
    return o.length <= 15 && o.indexOf('e+') < 0 && o.indexOf('E+') < 0 && !isNaN(o) && isFinite(o);
  }

However, even this one is far from complete. Leading zeros are not handled here, but they do screw the length test.