Formatting double as string in C# - c#

I have a Double which could have a value from around 0.000001 to 1,000,000,000.000
I wish to format this number as a string but conditionally depending on its size. So if it's very small I want to format it with something like:
String.Format("{0:.000000000}", number);
if it's not that small, say 0.001 then I want to use something like
String.Format("{0:.00000}", number);
and if it's over, say 1,000 then format it as:
String.Format("{0:.0}", number);
Is there a clever way to construct this format string based on the size of the value I'm going to format?

Use Math.Log10 of the absolute value of the double to figure out how many 0's you need either left (if positive) or right (if negative) of the decimal place. Choose the format string based on this value. You'll need handle zero values separately.
string s;
double epislon = 0.0000001; // or however near zero you want to consider as zero
if (Math.Abs(value) < epislon) {
int digits = Math.Log10( Math.Abs( value ));
// if (digits >= 0) ++digits; // if you care about the exact number
if (digits < -5) {
s = string.Format( "{0:0.000000000}", value );
}
else if (digits < 0) {
s = string.Format( "{0:0.00000})", value );
}
else {
s = string.Format( "{0:#,###,###,##0.000}", value );
}
}
else {
s = "0";
}
Or construct it dynamically based on the number of digits.

Use the # character for optional positions in the string:
string.Format("{0:#,###,##0.000}", number);
I don't think you can control the number of decimal places like that as the precision of the double will likely mess things up.
To encapsulate the logic of deciding how many decimal places to output you could look at creating a custom formatter.

The first two String.Format in your question can be solved by automatically removing trailing zeros:
String.Format("{0:#,##0.########}", number);
And the last one you could solve by calling Math.Round(number,1) for values over 1000 and then use the same String.Format.
Something like:
String.Format("{0:#,##0.########}", number<1000 ? number : Math.Round(number,1));

Following up on OwenP's (and by "extension" tvanfosson):
If it's common enough, and you're on C# 3.0, I'd turn it into an extension method on the double:
class MyExtensions
{
public static string ToFormmatedString(this double d)
{
// Take d and implement tvanfosson's code
}
}
Now anywhere you have a double you can do:
double d = 1.005343;
string d_formatted = d.ToFormattedString();

If it were me, I'd write a custom wrapper class and put tvanfosson's code into its ToString method. That way you could still work with the double value, but you'd get the right string representation in just about all cases. It'd look something like this:
class FormattedDouble
{
public double Value { get; set; }
protected overrides void ToString()
{
// tvanfosson's code to produce the right string
}
}
Maybe it might be better to make it a struct, but I doubt it would make a big difference. You could use the class like this:
var myDouble = new FormattedDouble();
myDouble.Value = Math.Pi;
Console.WriteLine(myDouble);

Related

Subtracting int from double leads to an error

I have an int and a double, but as soon as I try to subtract the integer from the double, the following error is thrown:
Input string was not in a correct format.
Now lets look at the code:
double TotalNoRegis = values.Sum(); // This is a LIST and its = 1569
string otherFe ="600";
double totalafter;
if(otherFe != string.Empty || otherFe!= "") // This part works fine
{
totalafter = TotalNoRegis - Convert.ToInt32(otherFe); // Here the error is thrown
}
What am I doing wrong here? I looked at this Example, which is basically the same thing: int x = 1 and int y = 2 and then int this = x-y;
Please let me know if you know the issue here.
What am I doing wrong here?
Lots.
if(otherFe != string.Empty || otherFe!= "") // This part works fine
That's nonsensical code. string.Empty and "" are the same string.
Instead use
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(otherFe))
Moving on:
totalafter = TotalNoRegis - Convert.ToInt32(otherFe); // Here the error is thrown
You claim that the error is the subtraction, but it is not. The problem is in the ToInt32. You are passing some other string than the one you are showing.
The way I like to do this is by making an extension method:
static public class Extensions
{
public static int? ParseAsInteger(this string s) {
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(s)) return null;
int i;
return int.TryParse(s, out i) ? (int?)i : (int?)null;
}
// Similarly write `ParseAsDouble` and so on.
}
Now you have an extension you can use:
double? totalAfter = TotalNoRegis - otherFe.ParseAsInteger();
(Or ParseAsDouble, or whatever.)
If otherFe was valid, then totalAfter has the total; if it was not, then it is null.
The lesson here is: move the type conversion logic into its own method which you can independently test. Then the logic at the call site of that method becomes simpler and easier to follow.
You should use an integer instead of a double, especially if you don't have a reason to use the double. So to rectify, you could simply do the following.
int total = values.Sum();
var other = "6000";
if(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(other))
if(int.TryParse(other, out int subtractor))
total -= subtractor;
If you require a double, then use but if you don't why bother? Also, you are subtracting fifteen hundred items from six thousand, your total after will always be negative or often be negative. Is that your desired intent?
Something to note, with the TryParse if it fails it'll skip the subtraction rather than fail like parse or convert would do. Also do you want the sum of the list or count?

Large Decimal Number Parse

I know this has some answers but not exactly what I'm looking for.
I have an application with a custom scripting language for file formats where numbers can be added, subtracted, etc...
One part will produce decimal,hex conversion and I was able to use the BigInteger class which is nice because I don't have to worry about large values.
For math operations though I am stuck using a Decimal and I would like to know if anyone has any suggestions for something like BigInteger that I can use for Decimal. I have seen BigRational but it doesn't look like it will fit.
Here is the code snippet where it's used. The asdecimal probably looks stupid but it's just decimal parse where zero is returned if invalid.
private string Subtract(StringReader reader, string text)
{
string value = reader.ReadToEnd();
value = Evaluate(value);
var a = text.AsDecimal();
var b = value.AsDecimal();
return (a - b).ToString();
}
To make this more clear. This function can handle any conceivable situation because of BigInteger
private string HexToDec(string value)
{
try
{
var input = this.Evaluate(value);
var number = BigInteger.Parse(input, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.HexNumber);
return number.ToString();
}
catch (Exception)
{
return "INVALID_HEX_NUMBER";
}
}
I would like subtract tot be as flexible. If it's not possible, that is fine.

Forcing positive sign on double in .Net String.Format

Context: .Net, C#
I want to print a complex number made from two doubles. The sign needs to show on the imaginary part. I'd like to use the default double formatting for each part to minimize the number of characters.
I tried using String.Format("{0:+G;-G}{1:+G;-G}j", real, imaginary) but this ended up printing: "+G-Gj". Not quite what I wanted.
Is there any way to do this using the G specifier or do I need to do a custom format which would sacrifice auto-switching the exponent, e.g. {1:+#.######e###;-#.######e###}j"
it is unusual, but you can easily override your Complex class's ToString method. For example:
class Complex {
private double mReal, mImaginary;
public Complex(double real, double imag) { mReal = real; mImaginary = imag; }
private string WithSign(double value) {
return value >= 0 ? "+" + value.ToString("N") : value.ToString("N");
}
public override string ToString() {
return WithSign(mReal) + "i" + WithSign(mImaginary);
}
}
Sample usage:
static void Main(string[] args) {
var c = new Complex(1, -1);
Console.WriteLine(c.ToString());
Console.ReadLine();
}
Output:
+1.00i-1.00
Tweak as necessary.
This is probably way off...
How about something like:
String.Format("+{0:g}-{0:g}{1:g}-{1:g}j", real, imaginary)

.NET testing a string for numeric value

Consider the need for a function in C# that will test whether a string is a numeric value.
The requirements:
must return a boolean.
function should be able to allow for whole numbers, decimals, and negatives.
assume no using Microsoft.VisualBasic to call into IsNumeric(). Here's a case of reinventing the wheel, but the exercise is good.
Current implementation:
//determine whether the input value is a number
public static bool IsNumeric(string someValue)
{
Regex isNumber = new Regex(#"^\d+$");
try
{
Match m = isNumber.Match(someValue);
return m.Success;
}
catch (FormatException)
{return false;}
}
Question: how can this be improved so that the regex would match negatives and decimals? Any radical improvements that you'd make?
Just off of the top of my head - why not just use double.TryParse ? I mean, unless you really want a regexp solution - which I'm not sure you really need in this case :)
Can you just use .TryParse?
int x;
double y;
string spork = "-3.14";
if (int.TryParse(spork, out x))
Console.WriteLine("Yay it's an int (boy)!");
if (double.TryParse(spork, out y))
Console.WriteLine("Yay it's an double (girl)!");
Regex isNumber = new Regex(#"^[-+]?(\d*\.)?\d+$");
Updated to allow either + or - in front of the number.
Edit: Your try block isn't doing anything as none of the methods within it actually throw a FormatException. The entire method could be written:
// Determine whether the input value is a number
public static bool IsNumeric(string someValue)
{
return new Regex(#"^[-+]?(\d*\.)?\d+$").IsMatch(someValue);
}
Well, for negatives you'd need to include an optional minus sign at the start:
^-?\d+$
For decimals you'd need to account for a decimal point:
^-?\d*\.?\d*$
And possible exponential notation:
^-?\d*\.?\d*(e\d+)?$
I can't say that I would use regular expressions to check if a string is a numeric value. Slow and heavy for such a simple process. I would simply run over the string one character at a time until I enter an invalid state:
public static bool IsNumeric(string value)
{
bool isNumber = true;
bool afterDecimal = false;
for (int i=0; i<value.Length; i++)
{
char c = value[i];
if (c == '-' && i == 0) continue;
if (Char.IsDigit(c))
{
continue;
}
if (c == '.' && !afterDecimal)
{
afterDecimal = true;
continue;
}
isNumber = false;
break;
}
return isNumber;
}
The above example is simple, and should get the job done for most numbers. It is not culturally sensitive, however, but it should be strait-forward enough to make it culturally sensitive.
Also, make sure the resulting code passes the Turkey Test:
http://www.moserware.com/2008/02/does-your-code-pass-turkey-test.html
Unless you really want to use regex, Noldorin posted a nice extension method in another Q&A.
Update
As Patrick rightly pointed out, the link points to an extension method that check whether the object is a numeric type or not, not whether it represents a numeric value. Then using double.TryParse as suggested by Saulius and yodaj007 is probably the best choice, handling all sorts of quirks with different decimal separators, thousand separators and so on. Just wrap it up in a nice extension method:
public static bool IsNumeric(this string value)
{
double temp;
return double.TryParse(value.ToString(), out temp);
}
...and fire away:
string someValue = "89.9";
if (someValue.IsNumeric()) // will be true in the US, but not in Sweden
{
// wow, it's a number!
]

Tiny way to get the first 25 characters

Can anyone think of a nicer way to do the following:
public string ShortDescription
{
get { return this.Description.Length <= 25 ? this.Description : this.Description.Substring(0, 25) + "..."; }
}
I would have liked to just do string.Substring(0, 25) but it throws an exception if the string is less than the length supplied.
I needed this so often, I wrote an extension method for it:
public static class StringExtensions
{
public static string SafeSubstring(this string input, int startIndex, int length, string suffix)
{
// Todo: Check that startIndex + length does not cause an arithmetic overflow - not that this is likely, but still...
if (input.Length >= (startIndex + length))
{
if (suffix == null) suffix = string.Empty;
return input.Substring(startIndex, length) + suffix;
}
else
{
if (input.Length > startIndex)
{
return input.Substring(startIndex);
}
else
{
return string.Empty;
}
}
}
}
if you only need it once, that is overkill, but if you need it more often then it can come in handy.
Edit: Added support for a string suffix. Pass in "..." and you get your ellipses on shorter strings, or pass in string.Empty for no special suffixes.
return this.Description.Substring(0, Math.Min(this.Description.Length, 25));
Doesn't have the ... part. Your way is probably the best, actually.
public static Take(this string s, int i)
{
if(s.Length <= i)
return s
else
return s.Substring(0, i) + "..."
}
public string ShortDescription
{
get { return this.Description.Take(25); }
}
The way you've done it seems fine to me, with the exception that I would use the magic number 25, I'd have that as a constant.
Do you really want to store this in your bean though? Presumably this is for display somewhere, so your renderer should be the thing doing the truncating instead of the data object
Well I know there's answer accepted already and I may get crucified for throwing out a regular expression here but this is how I usually do it:
//may return more than 25 characters depending on where in the string 25 characters is at
public string ShortDescription(string val)
{
return Regex.Replace(val, #"(.{25})[^\s]*.*","$1...");
}
// stricter version that only returns 25 characters, plus 3 for ...
public string ShortDescriptionStrict(string val)
{
return Regex.Replace(val, #"(.{25}).*","$1...");
}
It has the nice side benefit of not cutting a word in half as it always stops after the first whitespace character past 25 characters. (Of course if you need it to truncate text going into a database, that might be a problem.
Downside, well I'm sure it's not the fastest solution possible.
EDIT: replaced … with "..." since not sure if this solution is for the web!
without .... this should be the shortest :
public string ShortDescription
{
get { return Microsoft.VisualBasic.Left(this.Description;}
}
I think the approach is sound, though I'd recommend a few adjustments
Move the magic number to a const or configuration value
Use a regular if conditional rather than the ternary operator
Use a string.Format("{0}...") rather than + "..."
Have just one return point from the function
So:
public string ShortDescription
{
get
{
const int SHORT_DESCRIPTION_LENGTH = 25;
string _shortDescription = Description;
if (Description.Length > SHORT_DESCRIPTION_LENGTH)
{
_shortDescription = string.Format("{0}...", Description.Substring(0, SHORT_DESCRIPTION_LENGTH));
}
return _shortDescription;
}
}
For a more general approach, you might like to move the logic to an extension method:
public static string ToTruncated(this string s, int truncateAt)
{
string truncated = s;
if (s.Length > truncateAt)
{
truncated = string.Format("{0}...", s.Substring(0, truncateAt));
}
return truncated;
}
Edit
I use the ternary operator extensively, but prefer to avoid it if the code becomes sufficiently verbose that it starts to extend past 120 characters or so. In that case I'd like to wrap it onto multiple lines, so find that a regular if conditional is more readable.
Edit2
For typographical correctness you could also consider using the ellipsis character (…) as opposed to three dots/periods/full stops (...).
One way to do it:
int length = Math.Min(Description.Length, 25);
return Description.Substring(0, length) + "...";
There are two lines instead of one, but shorter ones :).
Edit:
As pointed out in the comments, this gets you the ... all the time, so the answer was wrong. Correcting it means we go back to the original solution.
At this point, I think using string extensions is the only option to shorten the code. And that makes sense only when that code is repeated in at least a few places...
Looks fine to me, being really picky I would replace "..." with the entity reference "…"
I can't think of any but your approach might not be the best. Are you adding presentation logic into your data object? If so then I suggest you put that logic elsewhere, for example a static StringDisplayUtils class with a GetShortStringMethod( int maxCharsToDisplay, string stringToShorten).
However, that approach might not be great either. What about different fonts and character sets? You'd have to start measuring the actual string length in terms of pixels. Check out the AutoEllipsis property on the winform's Label class (you'll prob need to set AutoSize to false if using this). The AutoEllipsis property, when true, will shorten a string and add the '...' chars for you.
I'd stick with what you have tbh, but just as an alternative, if you have LINQ to objects you could
new string(this.Description.ToCharArray().Take(25).ToArray())
//And to maintain the ...
+ (this.Description.Length <= 25 ? String.Empty : "...")
As others have said, you'd likely want to store 25 in a constant
You should see if you can reference the Microsoft.VisualBasic DLL into your app so you can make use of the "Left" function.

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