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

My two cents on this topic, trying to provide a generic, double conversion method:

private static double ParseDouble(object value)
{
    double result;

    string doubleAsString = value.ToString();
    IEnumerable<char> doubleAsCharList = doubleAsString.ToList();

    if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.' || ch == ',').Count() <= 1)
    {
        double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(',', '.'),
            System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
            CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
            out result);
    }
    else
    {
        if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.').Count() <= 1
            && doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == ',').Count() > 1)
        {
            double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(",", string.Empty),
                System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
                CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                out result);
        }
        else if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == ',').Count() <= 1
            && doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.').Count() > 1)
        {
            double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(".", string.Empty).Replace(',', '.'),
                System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
                CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                out result);
        }
        else
        {
            throw new ParsingException($"Error parsing {doubleAsString} as double, try removing thousand separators (if any)");
        }
    }

    return result;
}

Works as expected with:

• 1.1
• 1,1
• 1,000,000,000
• 1.000.000.000
• 1,000,000,000.99
• 1.000.000.000,99
• 5,000,111.3
• 5.000.111,3
• 0.99,000,111,88
• 0,99.000.111.88

No default conversion is implemented, so it would fail trying to parse 1.3,14, 1,3.14 or similar cases.

Answer 2

string testString1 = "2,457";
string testString2 = "2.457";    
double testNum = 0.5;
char decimalSepparator;
decimalSepparator = testNum.ToString()[1];

Console.WriteLine(double.Parse(testString1.Replace('.', decimalSepparator).Replace(',', decimalSepparator)));
Console.WriteLine(double.Parse(testString2.Replace('.', decimalSepparator).Replace(',', decimalSepparator)));

Answer 3

It's difficult without specifying what decimal separator to look for, but if you do, this is what I'm using:

    public static double Parse(string str, char decimalSep)
    {
        string s = GetInvariantParseString(str, decimalSep);
        return double.Parse(s, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
    }

    public static bool TryParse(string str, char decimalSep, out double result)
    {
        // NumberStyles.Float | NumberStyles.AllowThousands got from Reflector
        return double.TryParse(GetInvariantParseString(str, decimalSep), NumberStyles.Float | NumberStyles.AllowThousands, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result);
    }

    private static string GetInvariantParseString(string str, char decimalSep)
    {
        str = str.Replace(" ", "");

        if (decimalSep != '.')
            str = SwapChar(str, decimalSep, '.');

        return str;
    }
    public static string SwapChar(string value, char from, char to)
    {
        if (value == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("value");

        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();

        foreach (var item in value)
        {
            char c = item;
            if (c == from)
                c = to;
            else if (c == to)
                c = from;

            builder.Append(c);
        }
        return builder.ToString();
    }

    private static void ParseTestErr(string p, char p_2)
    {
        double res;
        bool b = TryParse(p, p_2, out res);
        if (b)
            throw new Exception();
    }

    private static void ParseTest(double p, string p_2, char p_3)
    {
        double d = Parse(p_2, p_3);
        if (d != p)
            throw new Exception();
    }

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        ParseTest(100100100.100, "100.100.100,100", ',');
        ParseTest(100100100.100, "100,100,100.100", '.');
        ParseTest(100100100100, "100.100.100.100", ',');
        ParseTest(100100100100, "100,100,100,100", '.');
        ParseTestErr("100,100,100,100", ',');
        ParseTestErr("100.100.100.100", '.');
        ParseTest(100100100100, "100 100 100 100.0", '.');
        ParseTest(100100100.100, "100 100 100.100", '.');
        ParseTest(100100100.100, "100 100 100,100", ',');
        ParseTest(100100100100, "100 100 100,100", '.');
        ParseTest(1234567.89, "1.234.567,89", ',');    
        ParseTest(1234567.89, "1 234 567,89", ',');    
        ParseTest(1234567.89, "1 234 567.89",     '.');
        ParseTest(1234567.89, "1,234,567.89",    '.');
        ParseTest(1234567.89, "1234567,89",     ',');
        ParseTest(1234567.89, "1234567.89",  '.');
        ParseTest(123456789, "123456789", '.');
        ParseTest(123456789, "123456789", ',');
        ParseTest(123456789, "123.456.789", ',');
        ParseTest(1234567890, "1.234.567.890", ',');
    }

This should work with any culture. It correctly fails to parse strings that has more than one decimal separator, unlike implementations that replace instead of swap.

Answer 4

Multiply the number and then divide it by what you multiplied it by before.

For example,

perc = double.Parse("3.555)*1000;
result = perc/1000

Answer 5

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<string> inputs = new List<string>() {
        "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;
}

Answer 6

Double.Parse("3,5".Replace(',', '.'), CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)

Replace the comma with a point before parsing. Useful in countries with a comma as decimal separator. Think about limiting user input (if necessary) to one comma or point.