Difference between revisions of "Converting Numbers to Text"

Revision as of 22:27, 19 March 2018

To convert a number to a text value, you can use the NumberToText function or the string concatenation, e.g., "" & x.

To avoid confusion, using NumberToText is usually the better option. See NumberToText for information on that. The second method is described here.

Examples

"" & (2^10) → '1024'

"" & Pi → '3.142'

"" & Exp(10) → '22.03K'

The coercion uses the number format for the object that contains the expression being evaluated. So, to use a different number format for the coercion, you must set the number format for that object. When you set the number format while viewing a table for the variable, be sure that no cells are selected, because cell-level formats (formats that apply to only part of the table) do not influence the coercion to text.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Category:Styles and options]]
-To convert a number to a text value, you can use [[Text Concatenation Operator: &|string concatenation]], e.g., <code>"" & x</code>.
+To convert a number to a text value, you can use the [[NumberToText]] function or the [[Text Concatenation Operator: &|string concatenation]], e.g., <code>"" & x</code>.
+To avoid confusion, using [[NumberToText]] is usually the better option. See [[NumberToText]] for information on that. The second method is described here.
 ==Examples==
@@ Line 9: / Line 11: @@
 :<code>"" & Exp(10) &rarr; '22.03K'</code>
-The coercion uses the number format for the object that contains the expression being evaluated.  So, to use a different number format for the coercion, you must set the number format for that object.
+The coercion uses the number format for the object that contains the expression being evaluated.  So, to use a different number format for the coercion, you must set the number format for that object.  When you set the number format while viewing a table for the variable, be sure that no cells are selected, because cell-level formats (formats that apply to only part of the table) do not influence the coercion to text.
-To avoid confusion between the format for displaying results and the format used for number-to-text conversion, a better way to perform the conversion is to define a [[User-Defined Function]] for the specific number format you are interested in.  For example:
-:<code>Function NumberToYYYY_MMM_DD(x) := "" & x</code>
-::<code>{ Set its number format to Date &rarr; Custom &rarr; YYYY-MMM-DD }</code>
-:<code>Function NumberToDollars(x) := "" & x</code>
-::<code>{ Set its number format to Fixed Point, currency, two digits, show trailing zeroes }</code>
-With these, you can now accomplish the desired coercions using these functions.  The number format for the function determines the conversion, rather than the number format for your variable.
 == See Also ==
+* [[Text Concatenation Operator: &|string concatenation]]
 * [[Function_Parameter_Qualifiers#Coerce_.3Ctype.3E|Coerce function parameter qualifier]]
 * [[Numbers]]