Develop Reference

Simple Convert.ToDouble will cause wrong input string Error [duplicate]

I want to parse a string like "3.5" to a double. However,
double.Parse("3.5")
yields 35 and
double.Parse("3.5", System.Globalization.NumberStyles.AllowDecimalPoint)
throws a FormatException.
Now my computer's locale is set to German, wherein a comma is used as decimal separator. It might have to do something with that and double.Parse() expecting "3,5" as input, but I'm not sure.
How can I parse a string containing a decimal number that may or may not be formatted as specified in my current locale?

double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)

I usualy use a multi-culture function to parse user input, mostly because if someone is used to the numpad and is using a culture that use a comma as the decimal separator, that person will use the point of the numpad instead of a comma.
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue)
{
double result;
//Try parsing in the current culture
if (!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result) &&
//Then try in US english
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), out result) &&
//Then in neutral language
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result))
{
result = defaultValue;
}
return result;
}
Beware though, #nikie comments are true. To my defense, I use this function in a controlled environment where I know that the culture can either be en-US, en-CA or fr-CA. I use this function because in French, we use the comma as a decimal separator, but anybody who ever worked in finance will always use the decimal separator on the numpad, but this is a point, not a comma. So even in the fr-CA culture, I need to parse number that will have a point as the decimal separator.

I couldn't write a comment, so I write here:
double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) is not a good idea, because in Canada we write 3,5 instead of 3.5 and this function gives us 35 as a result.
I tested both on my computer:
double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) --> 3.5 OK
double.Parse("3,5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) --> 35 not OK
This is a correct way that Pierre-Alain Vigeant mentioned
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue)
{
double result;
// Try parsing in the current culture
if (!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result) &&
// Then try in US english
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), out result) &&
// Then in neutral language
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result))
{
result = defaultValue;
}
return result;
}

Double.Parse("3,5".Replace(',', '.'), CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)
Replace the comma with a point before parsing. Useful in countries with a comma as decimal separator. Think about limiting user input (if necessary) to one comma or point.

Look, every answer above that proposes writing a string replacement by a constant string can only be wrong. Why? Because you don't respect the region settings of Windows! Windows assures the user to have the freedom to set whatever separator character s/he wants. S/He can open up the control panel, go into the region panel, click on advanced and change the character at any time. Even during your program run. Think of this. A good solution must be aware of this.
So, first you will have to ask yourself, where this number is coming from, that you want to parse. If it's coming from input in the .NET Framework no problem, because it will be in the same format. But maybe it was coming from outside, maybe from a external server, maybe from an old DB that only supports string properties. There, the db admin should have given a rule in which format the numbers are to be stored. If you know for example that it will be an US DB with US format you can use this piece of code:
CultureInfo usCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
NumberFormatInfo dbNumberFormat = usCulture.NumberFormat;
decimal number = decimal.Parse(db.numberString, dbNumberFormat);
This will work fine anywhere on the world. And please don't use 'Convert.ToXxxx'. The 'Convert' class is thought only as a base for conversions in any direction. Besides: You may use the similar mechanism for DateTimes too.

The trick is to use invariant culture, to parse dot in all cultures.
double.Parse("3.5", System.Globalization.NumberStyles.AllowDecimalPoint, System.Globalization.NumberFormatInfo.InvariantInfo);

string testString1 = "2,457";
string testString2 = "2.457";
double testNum = 0.5;
char decimalSepparator;
decimalSepparator = testNum.ToString()[1];
Console.WriteLine(double.Parse(testString1.Replace('.', decimalSepparator).Replace(',', decimalSepparator)));
Console.WriteLine(double.Parse(testString2.Replace('.', decimalSepparator).Replace(',', decimalSepparator)));

My two cents on this topic, trying to provide a generic, double conversion method:
private static double ParseDouble(object value)
{
double result;
string doubleAsString = value.ToString();
IEnumerable<char> doubleAsCharList = doubleAsString.ToList();
if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.' || ch == ',').Count() <= 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(',', '.'),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else
{
if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.').Count() <= 1
&& doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == ',').Count() > 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(",", string.Empty),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == ',').Count() <= 1
&& doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.').Count() > 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(".", string.Empty).Replace(',', '.'),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else
{
throw new ParsingException($"Error parsing {doubleAsString} as double, try removing thousand separators (if any)");
}
}
return result;
}
Works as expected with:
1.1
1,1
1,000,000,000
1.000.000.000
1,000,000,000.99
1.000.000.000,99
5,000,111.3
5.000.111,3
0.99,000,111,88
0,99.000.111.88
No default conversion is implemented, so it would fail trying to parse 1.3,14, 1,3.14 or similar cases.

The following code does the job in any scenario. It's a little bit parsing.
List<string> inputs = new List<string>()
{
"1.234.567,89",
"1 234 567,89",
"1 234 567.89",
"1,234,567.89",
"123456789",
"1234567,89",
"1234567.89",
};
string output;
foreach (string input in inputs)
{
// Unify string (no spaces, only .)
output = input.Trim().Replace(" ", "").Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join("", split.Take(split.Count()-1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
// Parse double invariant
double d = double.Parse(output, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Console.WriteLine(d);
}

I think 100% correct conversion isn't possible, if the value comes from a user input. e.g. if the value is 123.456, it can be a grouping or it can be a decimal point. If you really need 100% you have to describe your format and throw an exception if it is not correct.
But I improved the code of JanW, so we get a little bit more ahead to the 100%. The idea behind is, that if the last separator is a groupSeperator, this would be more an integer type, than a double.
The added code is in the first if of GetDouble.
void Main()
{
List<string> inputs = new List<string>() {
"1.234.567,89",
"1 234 567,89",
"1 234 567.89",
"1,234,567.89",
"1234567,89",
"1234567.89",
"123456789",
"123.456.789",
"123,456,789,"
};
foreach(string input in inputs) {
Console.WriteLine(GetDouble(input,0d));
}
}
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue) {
double result;
string output;
// Check if last seperator==groupSeperator
string groupSep = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.NumberFormat.NumberGroupSeparator;
if (value.LastIndexOf(groupSep) + 4 == value.Count())
{
bool tryParse = double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result);
result = tryParse ? result : defaultValue;
}
else
{
// Unify string (no spaces, only . )
output = value.Trim().Replace(" ", string.Empty).Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join(string.Empty, split.Take(split.Count()-1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
// Parse double invariant
result = double.Parse(output, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
return result;
}

var doublePattern = #"(?<integer>[0-9]+)(?:\,|\.)(?<fraction>[0-9]+)";
var sourceDoubleString = "03444,44426";
var match = Regex.Match(sourceDoubleString, doublePattern);
var doubleResult = match.Success ? double.Parse(match.Groups["integer"].Value) + (match.Groups["fraction"].Value == null ? 0 : double.Parse(match.Groups["fraction"].Value) / Math.Pow(10, match.Groups["fraction"].Value.Length)): 0;
Console.WriteLine("Double of string '{0}' is {1}", sourceDoubleString, doubleResult);

Instead of having to specify a locale in all parses, I prefer to set an application wide locale, although if string formats are not consistent across the app, this might not work.
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("pt-PT");
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo("pt-PT");
Defining this at the begining of your application will make all double parses expect a comma as the decimal delimiter. You can set an appropriate locale so that the decimal and thousands separator fits the strings you are parsing.

It's difficult without specifying what decimal separator to look for, but if you do, this is what I'm using:
public static double Parse(string str, char decimalSep)
{
string s = GetInvariantParseString(str, decimalSep);
return double.Parse(s, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
public static bool TryParse(string str, char decimalSep, out double result)
{
// NumberStyles.Float | NumberStyles.AllowThousands got from Reflector
return double.TryParse(GetInvariantParseString(str, decimalSep), NumberStyles.Float | NumberStyles.AllowThousands, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result);
}
private static string GetInvariantParseString(string str, char decimalSep)
{
str = str.Replace(" ", "");
if (decimalSep != '.')
str = SwapChar(str, decimalSep, '.');
return str;
}
public static string SwapChar(string value, char from, char to)
{
if (value == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("value");
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
foreach (var item in value)
{
char c = item;
if (c == from)
c = to;
else if (c == to)
c = from;
builder.Append(c);
}
return builder.ToString();
}
private static void ParseTestErr(string p, char p_2)
{
double res;
bool b = TryParse(p, p_2, out res);
if (b)
throw new Exception();
}
private static void ParseTest(double p, string p_2, char p_3)
{
double d = Parse(p_2, p_3);
if (d != p)
throw new Exception();
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100.100.100,100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100,100,100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100.100.100.100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100,100,100,100", '.');
ParseTestErr("100,100,100,100", ',');
ParseTestErr("100.100.100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100 100 100 100.0", '.');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100 100 100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100 100 100,100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100 100 100,100", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1.234.567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1 234 567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1 234 567.89", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1,234,567.89", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1234567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1234567.89", '.');
ParseTest(123456789, "123456789", '.');
ParseTest(123456789, "123456789", ',');
ParseTest(123456789, "123.456.789", ',');
ParseTest(1234567890, "1.234.567.890", ',');
}
This should work with any culture. It correctly fails to parse strings that has more than one decimal separator, unlike implementations that replace instead of swap.

I improved the code of #JanW as well...
I need it to format results from medical instruments, and they also send ">1000", "23.3e02", "350E-02", and "NEGATIVE".
private string FormatResult(string vResult)
{
string output;
string input = vResult;
// Unify string (no spaces, only .)
output = input.Trim().Replace(" ", "").Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join("", split.Take(split.Count() - 1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
string sfirst = output.Substring(0, 1);
try
{
if (sfirst == "<" || sfirst == ">")
{
output = output.Replace(sfirst, "");
double res = Double.Parse(output);
return String.Format("{1}{0:0.####}", res, sfirst);
}
else
{
double res = Double.Parse(output);
return String.Format("{0:0.####}", res);
}
}
catch
{
return output;
}
}

Here is a solution that handles any number string that many include commas and periods. This solution is particular for money amounts so only the tenths and hundredths place are expected. Anything more is treated as a whole number.
First remove anything that is not a number, comma, period, or negative sign.
string stringAmount = Regex.Replace(originalString, #"[^0-9\.\-,]", "");
Then we split up the number into the whole number and decimal number.
string[] decimalParsed = Regex.Split(stringAmount, #"(?:\.|,)(?=\d{2}$)");
(This Regex expression selects a comma or period that is two numbers from the end of the string.)
Now we take the whole number and strip it of any commas and periods.
string wholeAmount = decimalParsed[0].Replace(",", "").Replace(".", "");
if (wholeAmount.IsNullOrEmpty())
wholeAmount = "0";
Now we handle the decimal part, if any.
string decimalAmount = "00";
if (decimalParsed.Length == 2)
{
decimalAmount = decimalParsed[1];
}
Finally we can put the whole and decimal together and parse the Double.
double amount = $"{wholeAmount}.{decimalAmount}".ToDouble();
This will handle 200,00, 1 000,00 , 1,000 , 1.000,33 , 2,000.000,78 etc.

I am developing a .Net Maui app that runs on Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone. I have 3 double values that I parse and store using '.' (e.g. "32.5") in all cases: latitude, longitude, and altitude. I happen to have the Android and iPhone set for Spanish and noticed that the Android parsed the '.' string just fine. However, the iPhone refused to parse it correctly unless I substituted ',' for the '.'. Otherwise, the result was always a huge number.
Rather than deal with the complications of localization, I came up with a simple solution that takes advantage of the specific limits of my double numbers.
case "Lat":
waypoint.Lat = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 90);
break;
case "Lon":
waypoint.Lon = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 180);
break;
case "Alt":
waypoint.Alt = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 32000);
public static double ParseDouble(string val, double limit)
{
double result;
if (double.TryParse(val, out result))
{
if (Math.Abs(result) <= limit)
return result;
else if (double.TryParse(val.Replace('.', ','), out result))
{
if (Math.Abs(result) <= limit)
return result;
}
}
return 0;
}

System.Globalization.CultureInfo ci = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture;
string _pos = dblstr.Replace(".",
ci.NumberFormat.NumberDecimalSeparator).Replace(",",
ci.NumberFormat.NumberDecimalSeparator);
double _dbl = double.Parse(_pos);

The below is less efficient, but I use this logic. This is valid only if you have two digits after decimal point.
double val;
if (temp.Text.Split('.').Length > 1)
{
val = double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[0]);
if (temp.Text.Split('.')[1].Length == 1)
val += (0.1 * double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[1]));
else
val += (0.01 * double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[1]));
}
else
val = double.Parse(RR(temp.Text));

Multiply the number and then divide it by what you multiplied it by before.
For example,
perc = double.Parse("3.555)*1000;
result = perc/1000

How do sum decimal numbers in C#? [duplicate]

I want to parse a string like "3.5" to a double. However,
double.Parse("3.5")
yields 35 and
double.Parse("3.5", System.Globalization.NumberStyles.AllowDecimalPoint)
throws a FormatException.
Now my computer's locale is set to German, wherein a comma is used as decimal separator. It might have to do something with that and double.Parse() expecting "3,5" as input, but I'm not sure.
How can I parse a string containing a decimal number that may or may not be formatted as specified in my current locale?

double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)

I usualy use a multi-culture function to parse user input, mostly because if someone is used to the numpad and is using a culture that use a comma as the decimal separator, that person will use the point of the numpad instead of a comma.
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue)
{
double result;
//Try parsing in the current culture
if (!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result) &&
//Then try in US english
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), out result) &&
//Then in neutral language
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result))
{
result = defaultValue;
}
return result;
}
Beware though, #nikie comments are true. To my defense, I use this function in a controlled environment where I know that the culture can either be en-US, en-CA or fr-CA. I use this function because in French, we use the comma as a decimal separator, but anybody who ever worked in finance will always use the decimal separator on the numpad, but this is a point, not a comma. So even in the fr-CA culture, I need to parse number that will have a point as the decimal separator.

I couldn't write a comment, so I write here:
double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) is not a good idea, because in Canada we write 3,5 instead of 3.5 and this function gives us 35 as a result.
I tested both on my computer:
double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) --> 3.5 OK
double.Parse("3,5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) --> 35 not OK
This is a correct way that Pierre-Alain Vigeant mentioned
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue)
{
double result;
// Try parsing in the current culture
if (!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result) &&
// Then try in US english
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), out result) &&
// Then in neutral language
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result))
{
result = defaultValue;
}
return result;
}

Double.Parse("3,5".Replace(',', '.'), CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)
Replace the comma with a point before parsing. Useful in countries with a comma as decimal separator. Think about limiting user input (if necessary) to one comma or point.

Look, every answer above that proposes writing a string replacement by a constant string can only be wrong. Why? Because you don't respect the region settings of Windows! Windows assures the user to have the freedom to set whatever separator character s/he wants. S/He can open up the control panel, go into the region panel, click on advanced and change the character at any time. Even during your program run. Think of this. A good solution must be aware of this.
So, first you will have to ask yourself, where this number is coming from, that you want to parse. If it's coming from input in the .NET Framework no problem, because it will be in the same format. But maybe it was coming from outside, maybe from a external server, maybe from an old DB that only supports string properties. There, the db admin should have given a rule in which format the numbers are to be stored. If you know for example that it will be an US DB with US format you can use this piece of code:
CultureInfo usCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
NumberFormatInfo dbNumberFormat = usCulture.NumberFormat;
decimal number = decimal.Parse(db.numberString, dbNumberFormat);
This will work fine anywhere on the world. And please don't use 'Convert.ToXxxx'. The 'Convert' class is thought only as a base for conversions in any direction. Besides: You may use the similar mechanism for DateTimes too.

The trick is to use invariant culture, to parse dot in all cultures.
double.Parse("3.5", System.Globalization.NumberStyles.AllowDecimalPoint, System.Globalization.NumberFormatInfo.InvariantInfo);

string testString1 = "2,457";
string testString2 = "2.457";
double testNum = 0.5;
char decimalSepparator;
decimalSepparator = testNum.ToString()[1];
Console.WriteLine(double.Parse(testString1.Replace('.', decimalSepparator).Replace(',', decimalSepparator)));
Console.WriteLine(double.Parse(testString2.Replace('.', decimalSepparator).Replace(',', decimalSepparator)));

My two cents on this topic, trying to provide a generic, double conversion method:
private static double ParseDouble(object value)
{
double result;
string doubleAsString = value.ToString();
IEnumerable<char> doubleAsCharList = doubleAsString.ToList();
if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.' || ch == ',').Count() <= 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(',', '.'),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else
{
if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.').Count() <= 1
&& doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == ',').Count() > 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(",", string.Empty),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == ',').Count() <= 1
&& doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.').Count() > 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(".", string.Empty).Replace(',', '.'),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else
{
throw new ParsingException($"Error parsing {doubleAsString} as double, try removing thousand separators (if any)");
}
}
return result;
}
Works as expected with:
1.1
1,1
1,000,000,000
1.000.000.000
1,000,000,000.99
1.000.000.000,99
5,000,111.3
5.000.111,3
0.99,000,111,88
0,99.000.111.88
No default conversion is implemented, so it would fail trying to parse 1.3,14, 1,3.14 or similar cases.

The following code does the job in any scenario. It's a little bit parsing.
List<string> inputs = new List<string>()
{
"1.234.567,89",
"1 234 567,89",
"1 234 567.89",
"1,234,567.89",
"123456789",
"1234567,89",
"1234567.89",
};
string output;
foreach (string input in inputs)
{
// Unify string (no spaces, only .)
output = input.Trim().Replace(" ", "").Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join("", split.Take(split.Count()-1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
// Parse double invariant
double d = double.Parse(output, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Console.WriteLine(d);
}

I think 100% correct conversion isn't possible, if the value comes from a user input. e.g. if the value is 123.456, it can be a grouping or it can be a decimal point. If you really need 100% you have to describe your format and throw an exception if it is not correct.
But I improved the code of JanW, so we get a little bit more ahead to the 100%. The idea behind is, that if the last separator is a groupSeperator, this would be more an integer type, than a double.
The added code is in the first if of GetDouble.
void Main()
{
List<string> inputs = new List<string>() {
"1.234.567,89",
"1 234 567,89",
"1 234 567.89",
"1,234,567.89",
"1234567,89",
"1234567.89",
"123456789",
"123.456.789",
"123,456,789,"
};
foreach(string input in inputs) {
Console.WriteLine(GetDouble(input,0d));
}
}
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue) {
double result;
string output;
// Check if last seperator==groupSeperator
string groupSep = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.NumberFormat.NumberGroupSeparator;
if (value.LastIndexOf(groupSep) + 4 == value.Count())
{
bool tryParse = double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result);
result = tryParse ? result : defaultValue;
}
else
{
// Unify string (no spaces, only . )
output = value.Trim().Replace(" ", string.Empty).Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join(string.Empty, split.Take(split.Count()-1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
// Parse double invariant
result = double.Parse(output, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
return result;
}

var doublePattern = #"(?<integer>[0-9]+)(?:\,|\.)(?<fraction>[0-9]+)";
var sourceDoubleString = "03444,44426";
var match = Regex.Match(sourceDoubleString, doublePattern);
var doubleResult = match.Success ? double.Parse(match.Groups["integer"].Value) + (match.Groups["fraction"].Value == null ? 0 : double.Parse(match.Groups["fraction"].Value) / Math.Pow(10, match.Groups["fraction"].Value.Length)): 0;
Console.WriteLine("Double of string '{0}' is {1}", sourceDoubleString, doubleResult);

Instead of having to specify a locale in all parses, I prefer to set an application wide locale, although if string formats are not consistent across the app, this might not work.
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("pt-PT");
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo("pt-PT");
Defining this at the begining of your application will make all double parses expect a comma as the decimal delimiter. You can set an appropriate locale so that the decimal and thousands separator fits the strings you are parsing.

It's difficult without specifying what decimal separator to look for, but if you do, this is what I'm using:
public static double Parse(string str, char decimalSep)
{
string s = GetInvariantParseString(str, decimalSep);
return double.Parse(s, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
public static bool TryParse(string str, char decimalSep, out double result)
{
// NumberStyles.Float | NumberStyles.AllowThousands got from Reflector
return double.TryParse(GetInvariantParseString(str, decimalSep), NumberStyles.Float | NumberStyles.AllowThousands, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result);
}
private static string GetInvariantParseString(string str, char decimalSep)
{
str = str.Replace(" ", "");
if (decimalSep != '.')
str = SwapChar(str, decimalSep, '.');
return str;
}
public static string SwapChar(string value, char from, char to)
{
if (value == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("value");
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
foreach (var item in value)
{
char c = item;
if (c == from)
c = to;
else if (c == to)
c = from;
builder.Append(c);
}
return builder.ToString();
}
private static void ParseTestErr(string p, char p_2)
{
double res;
bool b = TryParse(p, p_2, out res);
if (b)
throw new Exception();
}
private static void ParseTest(double p, string p_2, char p_3)
{
double d = Parse(p_2, p_3);
if (d != p)
throw new Exception();
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100.100.100,100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100,100,100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100.100.100.100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100,100,100,100", '.');
ParseTestErr("100,100,100,100", ',');
ParseTestErr("100.100.100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100 100 100 100.0", '.');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100 100 100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100 100 100,100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100 100 100,100", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1.234.567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1 234 567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1 234 567.89", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1,234,567.89", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1234567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1234567.89", '.');
ParseTest(123456789, "123456789", '.');
ParseTest(123456789, "123456789", ',');
ParseTest(123456789, "123.456.789", ',');
ParseTest(1234567890, "1.234.567.890", ',');
}
This should work with any culture. It correctly fails to parse strings that has more than one decimal separator, unlike implementations that replace instead of swap.

I improved the code of #JanW as well...
I need it to format results from medical instruments, and they also send ">1000", "23.3e02", "350E-02", and "NEGATIVE".
private string FormatResult(string vResult)
{
string output;
string input = vResult;
// Unify string (no spaces, only .)
output = input.Trim().Replace(" ", "").Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join("", split.Take(split.Count() - 1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
string sfirst = output.Substring(0, 1);
try
{
if (sfirst == "<" || sfirst == ">")
{
output = output.Replace(sfirst, "");
double res = Double.Parse(output);
return String.Format("{1}{0:0.####}", res, sfirst);
}
else
{
double res = Double.Parse(output);
return String.Format("{0:0.####}", res);
}
}
catch
{
return output;
}
}

Here is a solution that handles any number string that many include commas and periods. This solution is particular for money amounts so only the tenths and hundredths place are expected. Anything more is treated as a whole number.
First remove anything that is not a number, comma, period, or negative sign.
string stringAmount = Regex.Replace(originalString, #"[^0-9\.\-,]", "");
Then we split up the number into the whole number and decimal number.
string[] decimalParsed = Regex.Split(stringAmount, #"(?:\.|,)(?=\d{2}$)");
(This Regex expression selects a comma or period that is two numbers from the end of the string.)
Now we take the whole number and strip it of any commas and periods.
string wholeAmount = decimalParsed[0].Replace(",", "").Replace(".", "");
if (wholeAmount.IsNullOrEmpty())
wholeAmount = "0";
Now we handle the decimal part, if any.
string decimalAmount = "00";
if (decimalParsed.Length == 2)
{
decimalAmount = decimalParsed[1];
}
Finally we can put the whole and decimal together and parse the Double.
double amount = $"{wholeAmount}.{decimalAmount}".ToDouble();
This will handle 200,00, 1 000,00 , 1,000 , 1.000,33 , 2,000.000,78 etc.

I am developing a .Net Maui app that runs on Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone. I have 3 double values that I parse and store using '.' (e.g. "32.5") in all cases: latitude, longitude, and altitude. I happen to have the Android and iPhone set for Spanish and noticed that the Android parsed the '.' string just fine. However, the iPhone refused to parse it correctly unless I substituted ',' for the '.'. Otherwise, the result was always a huge number.
Rather than deal with the complications of localization, I came up with a simple solution that takes advantage of the specific limits of my double numbers.
case "Lat":
waypoint.Lat = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 90);
break;
case "Lon":
waypoint.Lon = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 180);
break;
case "Alt":
waypoint.Alt = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 32000);
public static double ParseDouble(string val, double limit)
{
double result;
if (double.TryParse(val, out result))
{
if (Math.Abs(result) <= limit)
return result;
else if (double.TryParse(val.Replace('.', ','), out result))
{
if (Math.Abs(result) <= limit)
return result;
}
}
return 0;
}

System.Globalization.CultureInfo ci = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture;
string _pos = dblstr.Replace(".",
ci.NumberFormat.NumberDecimalSeparator).Replace(",",
ci.NumberFormat.NumberDecimalSeparator);
double _dbl = double.Parse(_pos);

The below is less efficient, but I use this logic. This is valid only if you have two digits after decimal point.
double val;
if (temp.Text.Split('.').Length > 1)
{
val = double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[0]);
if (temp.Text.Split('.')[1].Length == 1)
val += (0.1 * double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[1]));
else
val += (0.01 * double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[1]));
}
else
val = double.Parse(RR(temp.Text));

Multiply the number and then divide it by what you multiplied it by before.
For example,
perc = double.Parse("3.555)*1000;
result = perc/1000

c# Why do I get the double value without decimal (Conversion from object to double) [duplicate]

I want to parse a string like "3.5" to a double. However,
double.Parse("3.5")
yields 35 and
double.Parse("3.5", System.Globalization.NumberStyles.AllowDecimalPoint)
throws a FormatException.
Now my computer's locale is set to German, wherein a comma is used as decimal separator. It might have to do something with that and double.Parse() expecting "3,5" as input, but I'm not sure.
How can I parse a string containing a decimal number that may or may not be formatted as specified in my current locale?

double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)

I usualy use a multi-culture function to parse user input, mostly because if someone is used to the numpad and is using a culture that use a comma as the decimal separator, that person will use the point of the numpad instead of a comma.
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue)
{
double result;
//Try parsing in the current culture
if (!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result) &&
//Then try in US english
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), out result) &&
//Then in neutral language
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result))
{
result = defaultValue;
}
return result;
}
Beware though, #nikie comments are true. To my defense, I use this function in a controlled environment where I know that the culture can either be en-US, en-CA or fr-CA. I use this function because in French, we use the comma as a decimal separator, but anybody who ever worked in finance will always use the decimal separator on the numpad, but this is a point, not a comma. So even in the fr-CA culture, I need to parse number that will have a point as the decimal separator.

I couldn't write a comment, so I write here:
double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) is not a good idea, because in Canada we write 3,5 instead of 3.5 and this function gives us 35 as a result.
I tested both on my computer:
double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) --> 3.5 OK
double.Parse("3,5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) --> 35 not OK
This is a correct way that Pierre-Alain Vigeant mentioned
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue)
{
double result;
// Try parsing in the current culture
if (!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result) &&
// Then try in US english
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), out result) &&
// Then in neutral language
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result))
{
result = defaultValue;
}
return result;
}

Double.Parse("3,5".Replace(',', '.'), CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)
Replace the comma with a point before parsing. Useful in countries with a comma as decimal separator. Think about limiting user input (if necessary) to one comma or point.

Look, every answer above that proposes writing a string replacement by a constant string can only be wrong. Why? Because you don't respect the region settings of Windows! Windows assures the user to have the freedom to set whatever separator character s/he wants. S/He can open up the control panel, go into the region panel, click on advanced and change the character at any time. Even during your program run. Think of this. A good solution must be aware of this.
So, first you will have to ask yourself, where this number is coming from, that you want to parse. If it's coming from input in the .NET Framework no problem, because it will be in the same format. But maybe it was coming from outside, maybe from a external server, maybe from an old DB that only supports string properties. There, the db admin should have given a rule in which format the numbers are to be stored. If you know for example that it will be an US DB with US format you can use this piece of code:
CultureInfo usCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
NumberFormatInfo dbNumberFormat = usCulture.NumberFormat;
decimal number = decimal.Parse(db.numberString, dbNumberFormat);
This will work fine anywhere on the world. And please don't use 'Convert.ToXxxx'. The 'Convert' class is thought only as a base for conversions in any direction. Besides: You may use the similar mechanism for DateTimes too.

The trick is to use invariant culture, to parse dot in all cultures.
double.Parse("3.5", System.Globalization.NumberStyles.AllowDecimalPoint, System.Globalization.NumberFormatInfo.InvariantInfo);

string testString1 = "2,457";
string testString2 = "2.457";
double testNum = 0.5;
char decimalSepparator;
decimalSepparator = testNum.ToString()[1];
Console.WriteLine(double.Parse(testString1.Replace('.', decimalSepparator).Replace(',', decimalSepparator)));
Console.WriteLine(double.Parse(testString2.Replace('.', decimalSepparator).Replace(',', decimalSepparator)));

My two cents on this topic, trying to provide a generic, double conversion method:
private static double ParseDouble(object value)
{
double result;
string doubleAsString = value.ToString();
IEnumerable<char> doubleAsCharList = doubleAsString.ToList();
if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.' || ch == ',').Count() <= 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(',', '.'),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else
{
if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.').Count() <= 1
&& doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == ',').Count() > 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(",", string.Empty),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == ',').Count() <= 1
&& doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.').Count() > 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(".", string.Empty).Replace(',', '.'),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else
{
throw new ParsingException($"Error parsing {doubleAsString} as double, try removing thousand separators (if any)");
}
}
return result;
}
Works as expected with:
1.1
1,1
1,000,000,000
1.000.000.000
1,000,000,000.99
1.000.000.000,99
5,000,111.3
5.000.111,3
0.99,000,111,88
0,99.000.111.88
No default conversion is implemented, so it would fail trying to parse 1.3,14, 1,3.14 or similar cases.

The following code does the job in any scenario. It's a little bit parsing.
List<string> inputs = new List<string>()
{
"1.234.567,89",
"1 234 567,89",
"1 234 567.89",
"1,234,567.89",
"123456789",
"1234567,89",
"1234567.89",
};
string output;
foreach (string input in inputs)
{
// Unify string (no spaces, only .)
output = input.Trim().Replace(" ", "").Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join("", split.Take(split.Count()-1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
// Parse double invariant
double d = double.Parse(output, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Console.WriteLine(d);
}

I think 100% correct conversion isn't possible, if the value comes from a user input. e.g. if the value is 123.456, it can be a grouping or it can be a decimal point. If you really need 100% you have to describe your format and throw an exception if it is not correct.
But I improved the code of JanW, so we get a little bit more ahead to the 100%. The idea behind is, that if the last separator is a groupSeperator, this would be more an integer type, than a double.
The added code is in the first if of GetDouble.
void Main()
{
List<string> inputs = new List<string>() {
"1.234.567,89",
"1 234 567,89",
"1 234 567.89",
"1,234,567.89",
"1234567,89",
"1234567.89",
"123456789",
"123.456.789",
"123,456,789,"
};
foreach(string input in inputs) {
Console.WriteLine(GetDouble(input,0d));
}
}
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue) {
double result;
string output;
// Check if last seperator==groupSeperator
string groupSep = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.NumberFormat.NumberGroupSeparator;
if (value.LastIndexOf(groupSep) + 4 == value.Count())
{
bool tryParse = double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result);
result = tryParse ? result : defaultValue;
}
else
{
// Unify string (no spaces, only . )
output = value.Trim().Replace(" ", string.Empty).Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join(string.Empty, split.Take(split.Count()-1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
// Parse double invariant
result = double.Parse(output, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
return result;
}

var doublePattern = #"(?<integer>[0-9]+)(?:\,|\.)(?<fraction>[0-9]+)";
var sourceDoubleString = "03444,44426";
var match = Regex.Match(sourceDoubleString, doublePattern);
var doubleResult = match.Success ? double.Parse(match.Groups["integer"].Value) + (match.Groups["fraction"].Value == null ? 0 : double.Parse(match.Groups["fraction"].Value) / Math.Pow(10, match.Groups["fraction"].Value.Length)): 0;
Console.WriteLine("Double of string '{0}' is {1}", sourceDoubleString, doubleResult);

Instead of having to specify a locale in all parses, I prefer to set an application wide locale, although if string formats are not consistent across the app, this might not work.
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("pt-PT");
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo("pt-PT");
Defining this at the begining of your application will make all double parses expect a comma as the decimal delimiter. You can set an appropriate locale so that the decimal and thousands separator fits the strings you are parsing.

It's difficult without specifying what decimal separator to look for, but if you do, this is what I'm using:
public static double Parse(string str, char decimalSep)
{
string s = GetInvariantParseString(str, decimalSep);
return double.Parse(s, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
public static bool TryParse(string str, char decimalSep, out double result)
{
// NumberStyles.Float | NumberStyles.AllowThousands got from Reflector
return double.TryParse(GetInvariantParseString(str, decimalSep), NumberStyles.Float | NumberStyles.AllowThousands, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result);
}
private static string GetInvariantParseString(string str, char decimalSep)
{
str = str.Replace(" ", "");
if (decimalSep != '.')
str = SwapChar(str, decimalSep, '.');
return str;
}
public static string SwapChar(string value, char from, char to)
{
if (value == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("value");
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
foreach (var item in value)
{
char c = item;
if (c == from)
c = to;
else if (c == to)
c = from;
builder.Append(c);
}
return builder.ToString();
}
private static void ParseTestErr(string p, char p_2)
{
double res;
bool b = TryParse(p, p_2, out res);
if (b)
throw new Exception();
}
private static void ParseTest(double p, string p_2, char p_3)
{
double d = Parse(p_2, p_3);
if (d != p)
throw new Exception();
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100.100.100,100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100,100,100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100.100.100.100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100,100,100,100", '.');
ParseTestErr("100,100,100,100", ',');
ParseTestErr("100.100.100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100 100 100 100.0", '.');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100 100 100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100 100 100,100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100 100 100,100", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1.234.567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1 234 567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1 234 567.89", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1,234,567.89", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1234567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1234567.89", '.');
ParseTest(123456789, "123456789", '.');
ParseTest(123456789, "123456789", ',');
ParseTest(123456789, "123.456.789", ',');
ParseTest(1234567890, "1.234.567.890", ',');
}
This should work with any culture. It correctly fails to parse strings that has more than one decimal separator, unlike implementations that replace instead of swap.

I improved the code of #JanW as well...
I need it to format results from medical instruments, and they also send ">1000", "23.3e02", "350E-02", and "NEGATIVE".
private string FormatResult(string vResult)
{
string output;
string input = vResult;
// Unify string (no spaces, only .)
output = input.Trim().Replace(" ", "").Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join("", split.Take(split.Count() - 1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
string sfirst = output.Substring(0, 1);
try
{
if (sfirst == "<" || sfirst == ">")
{
output = output.Replace(sfirst, "");
double res = Double.Parse(output);
return String.Format("{1}{0:0.####}", res, sfirst);
}
else
{
double res = Double.Parse(output);
return String.Format("{0:0.####}", res);
}
}
catch
{
return output;
}
}

Here is a solution that handles any number string that many include commas and periods. This solution is particular for money amounts so only the tenths and hundredths place are expected. Anything more is treated as a whole number.
First remove anything that is not a number, comma, period, or negative sign.
string stringAmount = Regex.Replace(originalString, #"[^0-9\.\-,]", "");
Then we split up the number into the whole number and decimal number.
string[] decimalParsed = Regex.Split(stringAmount, #"(?:\.|,)(?=\d{2}$)");
(This Regex expression selects a comma or period that is two numbers from the end of the string.)
Now we take the whole number and strip it of any commas and periods.
string wholeAmount = decimalParsed[0].Replace(",", "").Replace(".", "");
if (wholeAmount.IsNullOrEmpty())
wholeAmount = "0";
Now we handle the decimal part, if any.
string decimalAmount = "00";
if (decimalParsed.Length == 2)
{
decimalAmount = decimalParsed[1];
}
Finally we can put the whole and decimal together and parse the Double.
double amount = $"{wholeAmount}.{decimalAmount}".ToDouble();
This will handle 200,00, 1 000,00 , 1,000 , 1.000,33 , 2,000.000,78 etc.

I am developing a .Net Maui app that runs on Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone. I have 3 double values that I parse and store using '.' (e.g. "32.5") in all cases: latitude, longitude, and altitude. I happen to have the Android and iPhone set for Spanish and noticed that the Android parsed the '.' string just fine. However, the iPhone refused to parse it correctly unless I substituted ',' for the '.'. Otherwise, the result was always a huge number.
Rather than deal with the complications of localization, I came up with a simple solution that takes advantage of the specific limits of my double numbers.
case "Lat":
waypoint.Lat = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 90);
break;
case "Lon":
waypoint.Lon = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 180);
break;
case "Alt":
waypoint.Alt = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 32000);
public static double ParseDouble(string val, double limit)
{
double result;
if (double.TryParse(val, out result))
{
if (Math.Abs(result) <= limit)
return result;
else if (double.TryParse(val.Replace('.', ','), out result))
{
if (Math.Abs(result) <= limit)
return result;
}
}
return 0;
}

System.Globalization.CultureInfo ci = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture;
string _pos = dblstr.Replace(".",
ci.NumberFormat.NumberDecimalSeparator).Replace(",",
ci.NumberFormat.NumberDecimalSeparator);
double _dbl = double.Parse(_pos);

The below is less efficient, but I use this logic. This is valid only if you have two digits after decimal point.
double val;
if (temp.Text.Split('.').Length > 1)
{
val = double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[0]);
if (temp.Text.Split('.')[1].Length == 1)
val += (0.1 * double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[1]));
else
val += (0.01 * double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[1]));
}
else
val = double.Parse(RR(temp.Text));

Multiply the number and then divide it by what you multiplied it by before.
For example,
perc = double.Parse("3.555)*1000;
result = perc/1000

Int32.TryParse with multiple group separators

I'm trying to create a method that can handle and validate integers as on ok input. The issue is our requirements which states the following numbers as an ok input regardless of chosen language:
1500, 1.500, 1,500, 1 500
-1500, -1.500, -1,500, -1 500
1500000, 1.500.500, 1,500,500 1 500 500
-1500000, -1.500.500, -1,500,500 -1 500 500
and so on.
My method now looks like this:
private bool TryParseInteger(string controlValue, out int controlInt)
{
int number;
NumberStyles styles = NumberStyles.Integer | NumberStyles.AllowThousands;
bool result = Int32.TryParse(controlValue, styles,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out number);
controlInt = number;
return result;
}
This does not work as I want it to. 1.500 and 1.500.500 is not validated as a correct input.
Is there another way to approach this?
Thanks for all the help. As it turns out 1.500,50 (and so on) should not pass validation which makes the suggested solutions not work. Any other ideas?

Just replace all those signs!
This code:
string[] arr = new[] { "1500", "1.500", "1,500", "1 500", "-1500", "-1.500", "-1,500", "-1 500",
"1500000", "1.500.500", "1,500,500","1 500 500",
"-1500000", "-1.500.500", "-1,500,500","-1 500 500"};
foreach (var s in arr)
{
int i = int.Parse(s.Replace(" ", "").Replace(",", "").Replace(".", ""));
Console.WriteLine(i);
}
Produces:
1500
1500
1500
1500
-1500
-1500
-1500
-1500
1500000
1500500
1500500
1500500
-1500000
-1500500
-1500500
-1500500

If you don't want to match 1,500.500 or 1.500,500, you can replace all .'s to ,'s and try to parse it again. Something like this:
private bool TryParseInteger(string controlValue, out int controlInt)
{
int number;
NumberStyles styles = NumberStyles.Integer | NumberStyles.AllowThousands;
bool result = Int32.TryParse(controlValue, styles,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out number);
if (!result)
{
controlValue = controlValue.Replace('.', ',');
result = Int32.TryParse(controlValue, styles,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out number);
}
controlInt = number;
return result;
}

I think the issue here is that 1.500 is understood differently per country. For instance, in the US that is equal to 1 and a half with some pointless zeroes where in Germany (I if memory serves) it is understood to be one thousand, five hundred.
In harmony with that, you should add a line at the beginning of the method like this:
controlValue = new string(controlValue.Where(c => !char.IsPunctuation(c) && c != ' ' || c == '-'));
This will remove all commas, periods and spaces which will work given that you only want integers. If you wanted to get a decimal, then we'd be in trouble...

You can create your own custom culture, and alter the NumberGroupSeparator as needed.
private static bool TryParseInteger(string controlValue, out int controlInt)
{
String[] groupSeparators = { ",", ".", " "};
CultureInfo customCulture = CultureInfo.InvariantCulture.Clone() as CultureInfo;
customCulture.NumberFormat.NumberDecimalSeparator = "SomeUnlikelyString";
NumberStyles styles = NumberStyles.Integer | NumberStyles.AllowThousands;
bool success = false;
controlInt = 0;
foreach (var separator in groupSeparators)
{
customCulture.NumberFormat.NumberGroupSeparator = separator;
success = Int32.TryParse(controlValue, styles, customCulture, out controlInt);
if (success)
{
break;
}
}
return success;
}

How do I parse a string with a decimal point to a double?

I want to parse a string like "3.5" to a double. However,
double.Parse("3.5")
yields 35 and
double.Parse("3.5", System.Globalization.NumberStyles.AllowDecimalPoint)
throws a FormatException.
Now my computer's locale is set to German, wherein a comma is used as decimal separator. It might have to do something with that and double.Parse() expecting "3,5" as input, but I'm not sure.
How can I parse a string containing a decimal number that may or may not be formatted as specified in my current locale?

double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)

I usualy use a multi-culture function to parse user input, mostly because if someone is used to the numpad and is using a culture that use a comma as the decimal separator, that person will use the point of the numpad instead of a comma.
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue)
{
double result;
//Try parsing in the current culture
if (!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result) &&
//Then try in US english
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), out result) &&
//Then in neutral language
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result))
{
result = defaultValue;
}
return result;
}
Beware though, #nikie comments are true. To my defense, I use this function in a controlled environment where I know that the culture can either be en-US, en-CA or fr-CA. I use this function because in French, we use the comma as a decimal separator, but anybody who ever worked in finance will always use the decimal separator on the numpad, but this is a point, not a comma. So even in the fr-CA culture, I need to parse number that will have a point as the decimal separator.

I couldn't write a comment, so I write here:
double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) is not a good idea, because in Canada we write 3,5 instead of 3.5 and this function gives us 35 as a result.
I tested both on my computer:
double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) --> 3.5 OK
double.Parse("3,5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) --> 35 not OK
This is a correct way that Pierre-Alain Vigeant mentioned
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue)
{
double result;
// Try parsing in the current culture
if (!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result) &&
// Then try in US english
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"), out result) &&
// Then in neutral language
!double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result))
{
result = defaultValue;
}
return result;
}

Double.Parse("3,5".Replace(',', '.'), CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)
Replace the comma with a point before parsing. Useful in countries with a comma as decimal separator. Think about limiting user input (if necessary) to one comma or point.

Look, every answer above that proposes writing a string replacement by a constant string can only be wrong. Why? Because you don't respect the region settings of Windows! Windows assures the user to have the freedom to set whatever separator character s/he wants. S/He can open up the control panel, go into the region panel, click on advanced and change the character at any time. Even during your program run. Think of this. A good solution must be aware of this.
So, first you will have to ask yourself, where this number is coming from, that you want to parse. If it's coming from input in the .NET Framework no problem, because it will be in the same format. But maybe it was coming from outside, maybe from a external server, maybe from an old DB that only supports string properties. There, the db admin should have given a rule in which format the numbers are to be stored. If you know for example that it will be an US DB with US format you can use this piece of code:
CultureInfo usCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
NumberFormatInfo dbNumberFormat = usCulture.NumberFormat;
decimal number = decimal.Parse(db.numberString, dbNumberFormat);
This will work fine anywhere on the world. And please don't use 'Convert.ToXxxx'. The 'Convert' class is thought only as a base for conversions in any direction. Besides: You may use the similar mechanism for DateTimes too.

The trick is to use invariant culture, to parse dot in all cultures.
double.Parse("3.5", System.Globalization.NumberStyles.AllowDecimalPoint, System.Globalization.NumberFormatInfo.InvariantInfo);

string testString1 = "2,457";
string testString2 = "2.457";
double testNum = 0.5;
char decimalSepparator;
decimalSepparator = testNum.ToString()[1];
Console.WriteLine(double.Parse(testString1.Replace('.', decimalSepparator).Replace(',', decimalSepparator)));
Console.WriteLine(double.Parse(testString2.Replace('.', decimalSepparator).Replace(',', decimalSepparator)));

My two cents on this topic, trying to provide a generic, double conversion method:
private static double ParseDouble(object value)
{
double result;
string doubleAsString = value.ToString();
IEnumerable<char> doubleAsCharList = doubleAsString.ToList();
if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.' || ch == ',').Count() <= 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(',', '.'),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else
{
if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.').Count() <= 1
&& doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == ',').Count() > 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(",", string.Empty),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else if (doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == ',').Count() <= 1
&& doubleAsCharList.Where(ch => ch == '.').Count() > 1)
{
double.TryParse(doubleAsString.Replace(".", string.Empty).Replace(',', '.'),
System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out result);
}
else
{
throw new ParsingException($"Error parsing {doubleAsString} as double, try removing thousand separators (if any)");
}
}
return result;
}
Works as expected with:
1.1
1,1
1,000,000,000
1.000.000.000
1,000,000,000.99
1.000.000.000,99
5,000,111.3
5.000.111,3
0.99,000,111,88
0,99.000.111.88
No default conversion is implemented, so it would fail trying to parse 1.3,14, 1,3.14 or similar cases.

The following code does the job in any scenario. It's a little bit parsing.
List<string> inputs = new List<string>()
{
"1.234.567,89",
"1 234 567,89",
"1 234 567.89",
"1,234,567.89",
"123456789",
"1234567,89",
"1234567.89",
};
string output;
foreach (string input in inputs)
{
// Unify string (no spaces, only .)
output = input.Trim().Replace(" ", "").Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join("", split.Take(split.Count()-1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
// Parse double invariant
double d = double.Parse(output, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Console.WriteLine(d);
}

I think 100% correct conversion isn't possible, if the value comes from a user input. e.g. if the value is 123.456, it can be a grouping or it can be a decimal point. If you really need 100% you have to describe your format and throw an exception if it is not correct.
But I improved the code of JanW, so we get a little bit more ahead to the 100%. The idea behind is, that if the last separator is a groupSeperator, this would be more an integer type, than a double.
The added code is in the first if of GetDouble.
void Main()
{
List<string> inputs = new List<string>() {
"1.234.567,89",
"1 234 567,89",
"1 234 567.89",
"1,234,567.89",
"1234567,89",
"1234567.89",
"123456789",
"123.456.789",
"123,456,789,"
};
foreach(string input in inputs) {
Console.WriteLine(GetDouble(input,0d));
}
}
public static double GetDouble(string value, double defaultValue) {
double result;
string output;
// Check if last seperator==groupSeperator
string groupSep = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.NumberFormat.NumberGroupSeparator;
if (value.LastIndexOf(groupSep) + 4 == value.Count())
{
bool tryParse = double.TryParse(value, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Any, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result);
result = tryParse ? result : defaultValue;
}
else
{
// Unify string (no spaces, only . )
output = value.Trim().Replace(" ", string.Empty).Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join(string.Empty, split.Take(split.Count()-1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
// Parse double invariant
result = double.Parse(output, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
return result;
}

var doublePattern = #"(?<integer>[0-9]+)(?:\,|\.)(?<fraction>[0-9]+)";
var sourceDoubleString = "03444,44426";
var match = Regex.Match(sourceDoubleString, doublePattern);
var doubleResult = match.Success ? double.Parse(match.Groups["integer"].Value) + (match.Groups["fraction"].Value == null ? 0 : double.Parse(match.Groups["fraction"].Value) / Math.Pow(10, match.Groups["fraction"].Value.Length)): 0;
Console.WriteLine("Double of string '{0}' is {1}", sourceDoubleString, doubleResult);

Instead of having to specify a locale in all parses, I prefer to set an application wide locale, although if string formats are not consistent across the app, this might not work.
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("pt-PT");
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo("pt-PT");
Defining this at the begining of your application will make all double parses expect a comma as the decimal delimiter. You can set an appropriate locale so that the decimal and thousands separator fits the strings you are parsing.

It's difficult without specifying what decimal separator to look for, but if you do, this is what I'm using:
public static double Parse(string str, char decimalSep)
{
string s = GetInvariantParseString(str, decimalSep);
return double.Parse(s, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
public static bool TryParse(string str, char decimalSep, out double result)
{
// NumberStyles.Float | NumberStyles.AllowThousands got from Reflector
return double.TryParse(GetInvariantParseString(str, decimalSep), NumberStyles.Float | NumberStyles.AllowThousands, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result);
}
private static string GetInvariantParseString(string str, char decimalSep)
{
str = str.Replace(" ", "");
if (decimalSep != '.')
str = SwapChar(str, decimalSep, '.');
return str;
}
public static string SwapChar(string value, char from, char to)
{
if (value == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("value");
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
foreach (var item in value)
{
char c = item;
if (c == from)
c = to;
else if (c == to)
c = from;
builder.Append(c);
}
return builder.ToString();
}
private static void ParseTestErr(string p, char p_2)
{
double res;
bool b = TryParse(p, p_2, out res);
if (b)
throw new Exception();
}
private static void ParseTest(double p, string p_2, char p_3)
{
double d = Parse(p_2, p_3);
if (d != p)
throw new Exception();
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100.100.100,100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100,100,100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100.100.100.100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100,100,100,100", '.');
ParseTestErr("100,100,100,100", ',');
ParseTestErr("100.100.100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100 100 100 100.0", '.');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100 100 100.100", '.');
ParseTest(100100100.100, "100 100 100,100", ',');
ParseTest(100100100100, "100 100 100,100", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1.234.567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1 234 567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1 234 567.89", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1,234,567.89", '.');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1234567,89", ',');
ParseTest(1234567.89, "1234567.89", '.');
ParseTest(123456789, "123456789", '.');
ParseTest(123456789, "123456789", ',');
ParseTest(123456789, "123.456.789", ',');
ParseTest(1234567890, "1.234.567.890", ',');
}
This should work with any culture. It correctly fails to parse strings that has more than one decimal separator, unlike implementations that replace instead of swap.

I improved the code of #JanW as well...
I need it to format results from medical instruments, and they also send ">1000", "23.3e02", "350E-02", and "NEGATIVE".
private string FormatResult(string vResult)
{
string output;
string input = vResult;
// Unify string (no spaces, only .)
output = input.Trim().Replace(" ", "").Replace(",", ".");
// Split it on points
string[] split = output.Split('.');
if (split.Count() > 1)
{
// Take all parts except last
output = string.Join("", split.Take(split.Count() - 1).ToArray());
// Combine token parts with last part
output = string.Format("{0}.{1}", output, split.Last());
}
string sfirst = output.Substring(0, 1);
try
{
if (sfirst == "<" || sfirst == ">")
{
output = output.Replace(sfirst, "");
double res = Double.Parse(output);
return String.Format("{1}{0:0.####}", res, sfirst);
}
else
{
double res = Double.Parse(output);
return String.Format("{0:0.####}", res);
}
}
catch
{
return output;
}
}

Here is a solution that handles any number string that many include commas and periods. This solution is particular for money amounts so only the tenths and hundredths place are expected. Anything more is treated as a whole number.
First remove anything that is not a number, comma, period, or negative sign.
string stringAmount = Regex.Replace(originalString, #"[^0-9\.\-,]", "");
Then we split up the number into the whole number and decimal number.
string[] decimalParsed = Regex.Split(stringAmount, #"(?:\.|,)(?=\d{2}$)");
(This Regex expression selects a comma or period that is two numbers from the end of the string.)
Now we take the whole number and strip it of any commas and periods.
string wholeAmount = decimalParsed[0].Replace(",", "").Replace(".", "");
if (wholeAmount.IsNullOrEmpty())
wholeAmount = "0";
Now we handle the decimal part, if any.
string decimalAmount = "00";
if (decimalParsed.Length == 2)
{
decimalAmount = decimalParsed[1];
}
Finally we can put the whole and decimal together and parse the Double.
double amount = $"{wholeAmount}.{decimalAmount}".ToDouble();
This will handle 200,00, 1 000,00 , 1,000 , 1.000,33 , 2,000.000,78 etc.

I am developing a .Net Maui app that runs on Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone. I have 3 double values that I parse and store using '.' (e.g. "32.5") in all cases: latitude, longitude, and altitude. I happen to have the Android and iPhone set for Spanish and noticed that the Android parsed the '.' string just fine. However, the iPhone refused to parse it correctly unless I substituted ',' for the '.'. Otherwise, the result was always a huge number.
Rather than deal with the complications of localization, I came up with a simple solution that takes advantage of the specific limits of my double numbers.
case "Lat":
waypoint.Lat = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 90);
break;
case "Lon":
waypoint.Lon = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 180);
break;
case "Alt":
waypoint.Alt = ParseDouble(xmlVal, 32000);
public static double ParseDouble(string val, double limit)
{
double result;
if (double.TryParse(val, out result))
{
if (Math.Abs(result) <= limit)
return result;
else if (double.TryParse(val.Replace('.', ','), out result))
{
if (Math.Abs(result) <= limit)
return result;
}
}
return 0;
}

System.Globalization.CultureInfo ci = System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture;
string _pos = dblstr.Replace(".",
ci.NumberFormat.NumberDecimalSeparator).Replace(",",
ci.NumberFormat.NumberDecimalSeparator);
double _dbl = double.Parse(_pos);

The below is less efficient, but I use this logic. This is valid only if you have two digits after decimal point.
double val;
if (temp.Text.Split('.').Length > 1)
{
val = double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[0]);
if (temp.Text.Split('.')[1].Length == 1)
val += (0.1 * double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[1]));
else
val += (0.01 * double.Parse(temp.Text.Split('.')[1]));
}
else
val = double.Parse(RR(temp.Text));

Multiply the number and then divide it by what you multiplied it by before.
For example,
perc = double.Parse("3.555)*1000;
result = perc/1000