Formatting Large Numbers

[townsend]

The Dictionary examples for the Format function aren't very clear.
And I didn't find any Topics or Lessons on this.

I'd like to get some commas inserted into a large number.
For example: 123456789 displayed as 123,456,789

This code doesn't work:

Code: Select all

put format ("###,###", 123456)

--nor this code

set the numberformat to "###,###"
put 123456

[Dixie]

Hi...

This road has been trod before....
http://forums.runrev.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=6987
be well

Dixie

[townsend]

Thanks Dixie!

Here's the code. I changed the name. I added a check for a string that had been previously formatted. In such a case, the previously formatted string is returned. Also I changed the reponse on a three digit submission to an return of the original number rather then quick exit.

Code: Select all

function with.commas theString
     if comma is in theString then
          return theString
     end if
     put the number of chars of theString into charCount
     if charCount < 3 then return theString
     put 0 into commaCount
     repeat with count = charCount down to 1
          if commaCount = 3 then
               put comma before commaNumbers
               put 0 into commaCount
          end if
          put char count of theString before commaNumbers
          add 1 to commaCount
     end repeat
     return commaNumbers
end with.commas

[townsend]

The previous code got all messed up if you sent it a number with a decimal point.
So I've updated the code to accommodate decimal points.
Basically I extract the decimal point portion in the beginning, then add it back on afterwards.
This code contains lots of good chunk (string manipulation) examples.

Code: Select all

function with.commas theString
     if comma is in theString then return theString
     if number of chars of theString = 0 then return theString
     put the number of chars of theString into charCount
     if "." is in theString then
          put offset(".",theString) into dot
          put char 1 to dot -1 of theString into body
          put char dot to charCount of theString into dot
     else if charCount < 3 then
          return theString
     else
          put theString into body
     end if
     put 0 into commaCount
     put the number of chars of body into charCount
     repeat with count = charCount down to 1
          if commaCount = 3 then
               put comma before commaNumbers
               put 0 into commaCount
          end if
          put char count of body before commaNumbers
          add 1 to commaCount
     end repeat
     return commaNumbers & dot
end with.commas

This is a good Handler to save for future use.

[worcestersource]

Hi Townsend,

If you pop onto RevOnline/User Samples and search for "accounting", you'll find my accountancyFormat() function that will format the large numbers for you in a nice and neat fashion.

Cheers,


Steve

[townsend]

Thanks Steve! Looks like it does lots of other stuff too.

Formats a number according to UK accounting conventions Useful little function that takes a number and formats it according UK accounting conventions i.e. put brackets around a negative number, adds comma separators etc.

You can also add a leading currency character and change the default characters for the thousands and decimal separators.

Each parameter other than the actual number itself has a default value, making it nice and compact in your own code.

Download here: function: accountancyFormat()