String to decimal conversion: dot separation instead of comma

Question

I have a string read from a textbox. It contains a comma for decimal separation.

I have NumberFormatInfo.CurrencyDecimalSeparator set to , (comma) but when I convert the string to decimal Convert.ToDecimal(mystring); I obtain a dot separate value for decimal.

Example:

decimal a=Convert.ToDecimal("1,2345"); ----> decimal is 1.2345

I have tried also:

double a=Convert.ToDouble("1,2345");

but dot for decimal again

try specifying format provider: http://msdn.microsoft.com/ru-ru/library/9k6z9cdw(v=vs.110).aspx — LINQ2Vodka, Nov 10 '13 at 18:31
Format provider is your friend. The decimal separator probably gets interesting when calling ToString on a decimal. — flq, Nov 10 '13 at 18:36
how about `"1,2345".ToString("0.####", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)` — hkarask, Jul 06 '17 at 12:53
I would like to share you the following answer in this case (Works excellent): https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36277684/how-to-convert-a-negative-string-to-decimal-value — Juan Carlos Ramírez, Mar 05 '18 at 20:51

score 60 · Answer 1 · edited May 28 '19 at 09:05

60

All this is about cultures. If you have any other culture than "US English" (and also as good manners of development), you should use something like this:

var d = Convert.ToDecimal("1.2345", new CultureInfo("en-US"));
// (or 1,2345 with your local culture, for instance)

(obviously, you should replace the "en-US" with the culture of your number local culture)

the same way, if you want to do ToString()

d.ToString(new CultureInfo("en-US"));

edited May 28 '19 at 09:05

radbyx

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answered Nov 10 '13 at 18:46

Agat

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Hi Guys, Thanks for reply I have tried decimal d = Convert.ToDecimal("1,2345", new CultureInfo("it-IT")); but don't work I'm viewing the value from visual studio Debug (local variable contain 1**.**2345) and I print this in a xml file and I obtain this node 1**.**2345 I have NumberFormatInfo.CurrencyDecimalSeparator set to , (comma). I view it from runtime in a debug mode. I hope this help you to undertand, and me too :) Bye – LoveMyWife Nov 10 '13 at 19:47
Are you sure you are actually locating the problem correctly? If you write something to xml file (and read it) -- you should ask about "howto(s)" xml-related ones, as Convert.ToDecimal and ToString() methods are some absolutely unrelated things to how exactly you are working with xml (-reader/-writer or any other way you manage the xml file). In that case, you should create a new question which actually describes and show the part with your code work logic with xml file. – Agat Nov 10 '13 at 19:52
1

`CultureInfo.InvariantCulture` might be a better choice. See a [DotnetFiddle](https://dotnetfiddle.net/uCGVy0) for examples. – LosManos Aug 26 '16 at 08:52
It all depends. The "en-US" value was used just for example. As if you are developing context (culture) dependent application, it might be used some other culture like "uk-UA", where coma is used by default. However, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture won't work in that case as it's culture independent. – Agat Aug 26 '16 at 18:37
2

If you do a lot of parsing, consider using `CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US")` instead of `new CultureInfo("en-US")`. That is because the former returns the same cached instance over and over again, while the latter clearly has to create a new object every time (one that the garbage collector will soon remove again). However, the two are not entirely equivalent wrt. the `UseUserOverride` property of the culture object. So consider what you want to happen if the user has changed the settings for `en-US` in the operating system. – Jeppe Stig Nielsen Sep 01 '19 at 22:01

score 41 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 15 '15 at 02:13

41

Instead of replace we can force culture like

var x = decimal.Parse("18,285", new NumberFormatInfo() { NumberDecimalSeparator = "," });

it will give output 18.285

edited Nov 15 '15 at 02:13

Antonio Bakula

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answered Dec 30 '13 at 06:10

Ashok Mandial

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it doesnt work if current culture is like German. it will keep the comma as decimal separator – Emil Jan 28 '18 at 15:20
I tested this with my culture set to "German (Germany)" and it worked just fine. – Stephan B May 30 '18 at 06:40
2

this should be the correct answer. No need to look at culture, just specify the decimal separator – deanwilliammills May 09 '19 at 10:40

score 10 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:31

10

Thanks for all reply.

Because I have to write a decimal number in a xml file I have find out the problem. In this discussion I have learned that xml file standard use dot for decimal value and this is culture independent. So my solution is write dot decimal number in a xml file and convert the readed string from the same xml file mystring.Replace(".", ","); Thanks Agat for suggestion to research the problem in xml context and Ε Г И І И О because I didn't know visual studio doesn't respect the culture settings I have in my code.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:31

Community

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answered Nov 11 '13 at 20:47

LoveMyWife

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That's not "VisualStudio" settings, but your .NET framework configuration (which is dependent on your Windows configuration). (This can be also web server settings). Those can be configured via app.config, web.config. – Agat Nov 30 '13 at 17:04
And using '.Replace(' is not really correct approach, as on another system it might be broken vise versa (if standard system settings are "en-US"). – Agat Nov 30 '13 at 17:05

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 30 '16 at 08:51

4

I ended up using this solution.

decimal weeklyWage;
decimal.TryParse(items[2],NumberStyles.Any, new NumberFormatInfo() { NumberDecimalSeparator = "."}, out weeklyWage);

answered Dec 30 '16 at 08:51

Gervo

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score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 10 '13 at 18:51

You are viewing your decimal or double values in Visual Studio. That doesn't respect the culture settings you have on your code.

Change the Region and Language settings on your Control Panel if you want to see decimal and double values having the comma as the decimal separator.

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 13 '19 at 11:53

0

I had faced the similar issue while using Convert.ToSingle(my_value) If the OS language settings is English 2.5 (example) will be taken as 2.5 If the OS language is German, 2.5 will be treated as 2,5 which is 25 I used the invariantculture IFormat provided and it works. It always treats '.' as '.' instead of ',' irrespective of the system language.

float var = Convert.ToSingle(my_value, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

answered Mar 13 '19 at 11:53

Varma Naidu V

1

you can also use the IFormat provider for parsing *.Parse(my_value, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture); – Varma Naidu V Mar 13 '19 at 11:55

score 0 · Answer 7 · edited Jul 22 '22 at 12:09

0

double prc;

Console.WriteLine(prc.ToString("F2") + "  :  " + prc.ToString("F2").Replace(",", "."));

edited Jul 22 '22 at 12:09

Adriaan

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answered Jul 22 '22 at 12:07

Mttzern

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Welcome to Stack Overflow! Please read [answer] and [edit] your question to contain an explanation as to why this code would actually solve the problem at hand. Always remember that you're not only solving the problem, but are also educating the OP and any future readers of this post. – Adriaan Jul 22 '22 at 12:10

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 20 '23 at 15:12

Define this extend of string in any c# file:

public static class ExtendString
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Transform a string into decimal (else return null if not possible)
    /// </summary>
    public static decimal? ParseToDecimal(this string str)
    {
        if (str.IsNullOrEmpty()) return null;
        if (decimal.TryParse(str, NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture, out decimal d))
            return d;
        if (decimal.TryParse(str, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out d))
            return d;
        return null;
    }
}

Then anywhere in your source code you can do this without having to think about "how to format your string before parsing it":

decimal? res = "12.54".ParseToDecimal(); // <-- returns a valid decimal
res = "12,54".ParseToDecimal(); // <-- returns a valid decimal
res = "notADecimal".ParseToDecimal(); // <-- returns null

score -1 · Answer 9 · answered May 26 '20 at 10:56

    usCulture = new CultureInfo("vi-VN");
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = usCulture;
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = usCulture;
usCulture = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture;
dbNumberFormat = usCulture.NumberFormat;
number = decimal.Parse("1.332,23", dbNumberFormat); //123.456.789,00

usCulture = new CultureInfo("en-GB");
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = usCulture;
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = usCulture;
usCulture = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture;
dbNumberFormat = usCulture.NumberFormat;
number = decimal.Parse("1,332.23", dbNumberFormat); //123.456.789,00

/*Decision*/
var usCulture = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture;
var dbNumberFormat = usCulture.NumberFormat;
decimal number;
decimal.TryParse("1,332.23", dbNumberFormat, out number); //123.456.789,00

String to decimal conversion: dot separation instead of comma

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