N-R > parseFloat

parseFloat

parseFloat, floating point numbers

Availability

Flash Player 5.

Usage

parseFloat(string)

Parameters

string The string to read and convert to a floating-point number.

Returns

Nothing.

Description

Function; converts a string to a floating-point number. The function reads, or "parses," and returns the numbers in a string until it reaches a character that is not a part of the initial number. If the string does not begin with a number that can be parsed, parseFloat returns NaN. White space preceding valid integers is ignored, as are trailing nonnumeric characters.

Example

The following examples use the parseFloat function to evaluate various types of numbers.

parseFloat("-2") returns -2

parseFloat("2.5") returns 2.5

parseFloat("3.5e6") returns 3.5e6, or 3500000

parseFloat("foobar") returns NaN

parseFloat(" 5.1") returns 5.1

parseFloat("3.75math") returns 3.75

parseFloat("0garbage") returns 0