[objective-c] How to convert an NSString into an NSNumber

How can I convert a NSString containing a number of any primitive data type (e.g. int, float, char, unsigned int, etc.)? The problem is, I don't know which number type the string will contain at runtime.

I have an idea how to do it, but I'm not sure if this works with any type, also unsigned and floating point values:

long long scannedNumber;
NSScanner *scanner = [NSScanner scannerWithString:aString];
[scanner scanLongLong:&scannedNumber]; 
NSNumber *number = [NSNumber numberWithLongLong: scannedNumber];

Thanks for the help.

This question is related to objective-c nsstring nsnumber primitive-types

The answer is


You can also do this:

NSNumber *number = @([dictionary[@"id"] intValue]]);

Have fun!


Here's a working sample of NSNumberFormatter reading localized number NSString (xCode 3.2.4, osX 10.6), to save others the hours I've just spent messing around. Beware: while it can handle trailing blanks ("8,765.4 " works), this cannot handle leading white space and this cannot handle stray text characters. (Bad input strings: " 8" and "8q" and "8 q".)

NSString *tempStr = @"8,765.4";  
     // localization allows other thousands separators, also.
NSNumberFormatter * myNumFormatter = [[NSNumberFormatter alloc] init];
[myNumFormatter setLocale:[NSLocale currentLocale]]; // happen by default?
[myNumFormatter setFormatterBehavior:NSNumberFormatterBehavior10_4];
     // next line is very important!
[myNumFormatter setNumberStyle:NSNumberFormatterDecimalStyle]; // crucial

NSNumber *tempNum = [myNumFormatter numberFromString:tempStr];
NSLog(@"string '%@' gives NSNumber '%@' with intValue '%i'", 
    tempStr, tempNum, [tempNum intValue]);
[myNumFormatter release];  // good citizen

Try this

NSNumber *yourNumber = [NSNumber numberWithLongLong:[yourString longLongValue]];

Note - I have used longLongValue as per my requirement. You can also use integerValue, longValue, or any other format depending upon your requirement.


You can use -[NSString integerValue], -[NSString floatValue], etc. However, the correct (locale-sensitive, etc.) way to do this is to use -[NSNumberFormatter numberFromString:] which will give you an NSNumber converted from the appropriate locale and given the settings of the NSNumberFormatter (including whether it will allow floating point values).


you can also do like this code 8.3.3 ios 10.3 support

[NSNumber numberWithInt:[@"put your string here" intValue]]

If you know that you receive integers, you could use:

NSString* val = @"12";
[NSNumber numberWithInt:[val intValue]];

You can just use [string intValue] or [string floatValue] or [string doubleValue] etc

You can also use NSNumberFormatter class:


NSDecimalNumber *myNumber = [NSDecimalNumber decimalNumberWithString:@"123.45"];
NSLog(@"My Number : %@",myNumber);

extension String {

    var numberValue:NSNumber? {
        let formatter = NumberFormatter()
        formatter.numberStyle = .decimal
        return formatter.number(from: self)
    }
}

let someFloat = "12.34".numberValue

I think NSDecimalNumber will do it:

Example:

NSNumber *theNumber = [NSDecimalNumber decimalNumberWithString:[stringVariable text]]];

NSDecimalNumber is a subclass of NSNumber, so implicit casting allowed.


For strings starting with integers, e.g., @"123", @"456 ft", @"7.89", etc., use -[NSString integerValue].

So, @([@"12.8 lbs" integerValue]) is like doing [NSNumber numberWithInteger:12].


Objective-C

(Note: this method doesn't play nice with difference locales, but is slightly faster than a NSNumberFormatter)

NSNumber *num1 = @([@"42" intValue]);
NSNumber *num2 = @([@"42.42" floatValue]);

Swift

Simple but dirty way

// Swift 1.2
if let intValue = "42".toInt() {
    let number1 = NSNumber(integer:intValue)
}

// Swift 2.0
let number2 = Int("42')

// Swift 3.0
NSDecimalNumber(string: "42.42") 

// Using NSNumber
let number3 = NSNumber(float:("42.42" as NSString).floatValue)

The extension-way This is better, really, because it'll play nicely with locales and decimals.

extension String {

    var numberValue:NSNumber? {
        let formatter = NSNumberFormatter()
        formatter.numberStyle = .DecimalStyle
        return formatter.number(from: self)
    }
}

Now you can simply do:

let someFloat = "42.42".numberValue
let someInt = "42".numberValue

Thanks All! I am combined feedback and finally manage to convert from text input ( string ) to Integer. Plus it could tell me whether the input is integer :)

NSNumberFormatter * f = [[NSNumberFormatter alloc] init];
[f setNumberStyle:NSNumberFormatterDecimalStyle];
NSNumber * myNumber = [f numberFromString:thresholdInput.text];

int minThreshold = [myNumber intValue]; 

NSLog(@"Setting for minThreshold %i", minThreshold);

if ((int)minThreshold < 1 )
{
    NSLog(@"Not a number");
}
else
{
    NSLog(@"Setting for integer minThreshold %i", minThreshold);
}
[f release];

I know this is very late but below code is working for me.

Try this code

NSNumber *number = @([dictionary[@"keyValue"] intValue]]);

This may help you. Thanks


What about C's standard atoi?

int num = atoi([scannedNumber cStringUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]);

Do you think there are any caveats?


Worked in Swift 3

NSDecimalNumber(string: "Your string") 

I wanted to convert a string to a double. This above answer didn't quite work for me. But this did: How to do string conversions in Objective-C?

All I pretty much did was:

double myDouble = [myString doubleValue];