note 92885 added to language.types.float

As "m dot lebkowski+php at gmail dot com" (http://www.php.net/language.types.float#81416) noted 9 comments below : When PHP converts a float to a string, the decimal separator used depends on the current locale conventions. However, to declare a floating point number, one must always use a full stop otherwhise the code would be locale dependent (imagine the nightmare): <?php $float = 1.5; // float(1.5) $float = 1,5; // Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ',' $float = (float) '1.5'; // float(1.5) $float = (float) '1,5'; // float(1) ?> Now, if you have a string containing a localized number, you can convert it back to a floating point number using the following function: <?php /** * Convert a localized number string into a floating point number * * @param string $sNumber The localized number string to convert. * @return float The converted number. */ function str2num($sNumber) { $aConventions = localeConv(); $sNumber = trim((string) $sNumber); $bIsNegative = (0 === $aConventions['n_sign_posn'] && '(' === $sNumber{0} && ')' === $sNumber{strlen($sNumber) - 1}); $sCharacters = $aConventions['decimal_point']. $aConventions['mon_decimal_point']. $aConventions['negative_sign']; $sNumber = preg_replace('/[^'.preg_quote($sCharacters).'\d]+/', '', trim((string) $sNumber)); $iLength = strlen($sNumber); if (strlen($aConventions['decimal_point'])) { $sNumber = str_replace($aConventions['decimal_point'], '.', $sNumber); } if (strlen($aConventions['mon_decimal_point'])) { $sNumber = str_replace($aConventions['mon_decimal_point'], '.', $sNumber); } $sNegativeSign = $aConventions['negative_sign']; if (strlen($sNegativeSign) && 0 !== $aConventions['n_sign_posn']) { $bIsNegative = ($sNegativeSign === $sNumber{0} || $sNegativeSign === $sNumber{$iLength - 1}); if ($bIsNegative) { $sNumber = str_replace($aConventions['negative_sign'], '', $sNumber); } } $fNumber = (float) $sNumber; if ($bIsNegative) { $fNumber = -$fNumber; } return $fNumber; } ?> Example: <?php setLocale(LC_ALL, 'fr_BE.UTF-8'); // decimal separator is now a comma $float = -123456.789; $string = (string) $float; var_dump($float); // float(-123456,789) var_dump($string); // string(11) "-123456,789" var_dump((float) $string); // float(-123456) var_dump(str2num($string)); // float(-123456,789) ?> It also works with strings returned by the number_format() function: <?php setLocale(LC_ALL, 'fr_BE.UTF-8'); // decimal separator is now a comma $conv = localeconv(); $float = -123456.789; $string = $conv['int_curr_symbol'].number_format($float, $conv['frac_digits'], $conv['decimal_point'], $conv['thousands_sep']); var_dump($float); // float(-123456,789) var_dump($string); // string(15) "EUR -123.456,79" var_dump((float) $string); // float(0) var_dump(str2num($string)); // float(-123456,79) ?> ---- Server IP: 64.71.164.2 Probable Submitter: 87.65.121.159 ---- Manual Page -- http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.types.float.php Edit -- https://master.php.net/note/edit/92885 Del: integrated -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/92885/integrated Del: useless -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/92885/useless Del: bad code -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/92885/bad+code Del: spam -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/92885/spam Del: non-english -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/92885/non-english Del: in docs -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/92885/in+docs Del: other reasons-- https://master.php.net/note/delete/92885 Reject -- https://master.php.net/note/reject/92885 Search -- https://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php