Re: Extract number from character field

Jim, Jeff,

 Actually, in the latest version there is a cool BIF that will reduce this
to much fewer lines:

 C      1       DO      %LEN( field )
 C              ...     %REPLACE()
 C              ... code to exit loop
 C              ENDDO


 I don't recall the exact syntax, but it's very useful.

 -mark
---------------------------------------------
>If I had to do what you are attempting to do this is how I would do it.

>Number of decimals = 1
>Start at the right most character in the string
>Loop1
>  If it is a number, exit loop
>  back up one character.  If at position 0 exit, no number found
>  goto loop
>
>Store a variable with the length of my temp variable (say n=15)
>Loop2
>  Move the character into the nth place in my temp variable
>  Loop3
>    Back up one character.  If at position 0 end loop
>    If character is a number
>      subtract 1 from n
>       if n = 0 exit, number too big
>       goto loop2
>    If character is a ',' goto loop3
>    If character is a '.'
>       Number of Decimals = Length of Temp Variable - n
>       goto Loop3
>    end loop
>
>Number = atof(Temp Variable) / (1 * Number of Decimals)
>
>You get the general idea.
>
>yes, it is a pain.  The main reason it is a pain is because 1. You don't
>know where in the string the number will occur.  2. You don't know if
>the number is going to have .'s or ,'s
>
>Regards,
>
>Jim Langston
>
>Jeff Crosby wrote:
>
>> > > But what if the source string was "12,435"?
>>
>> I'm sorry, I didn't explain myself well enough (or didn't read your
>> original post closely enough to see the positions were hardcoded).  What
>> I meant was, what if sometimes the commas are there and sometimes not?
>> As in "12345" one time and "12,345" the next.


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