[c++] How can I convert string to double in C++?

How can I convert string to double in C++? I want a function that returns 0 when the string is not numerical.

Must say I agree with that the most elegant solution to this is using boost::lexical_cast. You can then catch the bad_lexical_cast that might occure, and do something when it fails, instead of getting 0.0 which atof gives.

#include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>
#include <string>

int main()
{
    std::string str = "3.14";
    double strVal;
    try {
        strVal = boost::lexical_cast<double>(str);
    } catch(bad_lexical_cast&) {
        //Do your errormagic
    }
    return 0;
}

I think atof is exactly what you want. This function parses a string and converts it into a double. If the string does not start with a number (non-numerical) a 0.0 is returned.

However, it does try to parse as much of the string as it can. In other words, the string "3abc" would be interpreted as 3.0. If you want a function that will return 0.0 in these cases, you will need to write a small wrapper yourself.

Also, this function works with the C-style string of a null terminated array of characters. If you're using a string object, it will need to be converted to a char* before you use this function.

There is not a single function that will do that, because 0 is a valid number and you need to be able to catch when the string is not a valid number.

You will need to check the string first (probably with a regular expression) to see if it contains only numbers and numerical punctuation. You can then decide to return 0 if that is what your application needs or convert it to a double.

After looking up atof() and strtod() I should rephrase my statement to "there shouldn't be" instead of "there is not" ... hehe

One of the most elegant solution to this problem is to use boost::lexical_cast as @Evgeny Lazin mentioned.

There is not a single function that will do that, because 0 is a valid number and you need to be able to catch when the string is not a valid number.

You will need to check the string first (probably with a regular expression) to see if it contains only numbers and numerical punctuation. You can then decide to return 0 if that is what your application needs or convert it to a double.

After looking up atof() and strtod() I should rephrase my statement to "there shouldn't be" instead of "there is not" ... hehe

Most simple way is to use boost::lexical_cast:

double value;
try
{
    value = boost::lexical_cast<double>(my_string);
}
catch (boost::bad_lexical_cast const&)
{
    value = 0;
}

atof and strtod do what you want but are very forgiving. If you don't want to accept strings like "32asd" as valid you need to wrap strtod in a function such as this:

#include <stdlib.h>
double strict_str2double(char* str)
{
    char* endptr;
    double value = strtod(str, &endptr);
    if (*endptr) return 0;
    return value;
}

I think atof is exactly what you want. This function parses a string and converts it into a double. If the string does not start with a number (non-numerical) a 0.0 is returned.

However, it does try to parse as much of the string as it can. In other words, the string "3abc" would be interpreted as 3.0. If you want a function that will return 0.0 in these cases, you will need to write a small wrapper yourself.

Also, this function works with the C-style string of a null terminated array of characters. If you're using a string object, it will need to be converted to a char* before you use this function.

atof and strtod do what you want but are very forgiving. If you don't want to accept strings like "32asd" as valid you need to wrap strtod in a function such as this:

#include <stdlib.h>
double strict_str2double(char* str)
{
    char* endptr;
    double value = strtod(str, &endptr);
    if (*endptr) return 0;
    return value;
}

Must say I agree with that the most elegant solution to this is using boost::lexical_cast. You can then catch the bad_lexical_cast that might occure, and do something when it fails, instead of getting 0.0 which atof gives.

#include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>
#include <string>

int main()
{
    std::string str = "3.14";
    double strVal;
    try {
        strVal = boost::lexical_cast<double>(str);
    } catch(bad_lexical_cast&) {
        //Do your errormagic
    }
    return 0;
}

If it is a c-string (null-terminated array of type char), you can do something like:

#include <stdlib.h>
char str[] = "3.14159";
double num = atof(str);

If it is a C++ string, just use the c_str() method:

double num = atof( cppstr.c_str() );

atof() will convert the string to a double, returning 0 on failure. The function is documented here: http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/cstdlib/atof.html

Sample C program to convert string to double in C

#include <iostream>
#include <comutil.h>
#include <iomanip>

bool ParseNumberToDouble(const std::wstring& strInput, double & dResult)
{
    bool bSucceeded = false;
    dResult = 0;
    if (!strInput.empty() && dResult)
    {
        _variant_t varIn = strInput.c_str();
        if (SUCCEEDED(VariantChangeTypeEx(&varIn, &varIn, GetThreadLocale(), 0, VT_R8)))
        {
            dResult = varIn.dblVal;
            bSucceeded = true;
        }
    }
    return bSucceeded;
}

int main()
{
    std::wstring strInput = L"1000";
    double dResult = 0;

    ParseNumberToDouble(strInput, dResult);

    return 0;
}

See C++ FAQ Lite How do I convert a std::string to a number?

See C++ Super-FAQ How do I convert a std::string to a number?

Please note that with your requirements you can't distinguish all the the allowed string representations of zero from the non numerical strings.

 // the requested function
 #include <sstream>
 double string_to_double( const std::string& s )
 {
   std::istringstream i(s);
   double x;
   if (!(i >> x))
     return 0;
   return x;
 } 

 // some tests
 #include <cassert>
 int main( int, char** )
 {
    // simple case:
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( "0.5"    ) );

    // blank space:
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( "0.5 "   ) );
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( " 0.5"   ) );

    // trailing non digit characters:
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( "0.5a"   ) );

    // note that with your requirements you can't distinguish
    // all the the allowed string representation of zero from
    // the non numerical strings:
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0"       ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0."      ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0"     ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.00"    ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0e0"   ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0e-0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0e+0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0"      ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0."     ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0"    ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.00"   ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0e0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0e-0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0e+0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0"      ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0."     ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0"    ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.00"   ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0e0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0e-0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0e+0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "foobar"  ) );
    return 0;
 }

There is not a single function that will do that, because 0 is a valid number and you need to be able to catch when the string is not a valid number.

You will need to check the string first (probably with a regular expression) to see if it contains only numbers and numerical punctuation. You can then decide to return 0 if that is what your application needs or convert it to a double.

After looking up atof() and strtod() I should rephrase my statement to "there shouldn't be" instead of "there is not" ... hehe

Most simple way is to use boost::lexical_cast:

double value;
try
{
    value = boost::lexical_cast<double>(my_string);
}
catch (boost::bad_lexical_cast const&)
{
    value = 0;
}

If it is a c-string (null-terminated array of type char), you can do something like:

#include <stdlib.h>
char str[] = "3.14159";
double num = atof(str);

If it is a C++ string, just use the c_str() method:

double num = atof( cppstr.c_str() );

atof() will convert the string to a double, returning 0 on failure. The function is documented here: http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/cstdlib/atof.html

Most simple way is to use boost::lexical_cast:

double value;
try
{
    value = boost::lexical_cast<double>(my_string);
}
catch (boost::bad_lexical_cast const&)
{
    value = 0;
}

One of the most elegant solution to this problem is to use boost::lexical_cast as @Evgeny Lazin mentioned.

Most simple way is to use boost::lexical_cast:

double value;
try
{
    value = boost::lexical_cast<double>(my_string);
}
catch (boost::bad_lexical_cast const&)
{
    value = 0;
}

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    cout << stod("  99.999  ") << endl;
}

Output: 99.999 (which is double, whitespace was automatically stripped)

Since C++11 converting string to floating-point values (like double) is available with functions:
stof - convert str to a float
stod - convert str to a double
stold - convert str to a long double

I want a function that returns 0 when the string is not numerical.

You can add try catch statement when stod throws an exception.

Sample C program to convert string to double in C

#include <iostream>
#include <comutil.h>
#include <iomanip>

bool ParseNumberToDouble(const std::wstring& strInput, double & dResult)
{
    bool bSucceeded = false;
    dResult = 0;
    if (!strInput.empty() && dResult)
    {
        _variant_t varIn = strInput.c_str();
        if (SUCCEEDED(VariantChangeTypeEx(&varIn, &varIn, GetThreadLocale(), 0, VT_R8)))
        {
            dResult = varIn.dblVal;
            bSucceeded = true;
        }
    }
    return bSucceeded;
}

int main()
{
    std::wstring strInput = L"1000";
    double dResult = 0;

    ParseNumberToDouble(strInput, dResult);

    return 0;
}

Must say I agree with that the most elegant solution to this is using boost::lexical_cast. You can then catch the bad_lexical_cast that might occure, and do something when it fails, instead of getting 0.0 which atof gives.

#include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>
#include <string>

int main()
{
    std::string str = "3.14";
    double strVal;
    try {
        strVal = boost::lexical_cast<double>(str);
    } catch(bad_lexical_cast&) {
        //Do your errormagic
    }
    return 0;
}

atof and strtod do what you want but are very forgiving. If you don't want to accept strings like "32asd" as valid you need to wrap strtod in a function such as this:

#include <stdlib.h>
double strict_str2double(char* str)
{
    char* endptr;
    double value = strtod(str, &endptr);
    if (*endptr) return 0;
    return value;
}

I think atof is exactly what you want. This function parses a string and converts it into a double. If the string does not start with a number (non-numerical) a 0.0 is returned.

However, it does try to parse as much of the string as it can. In other words, the string "3abc" would be interpreted as 3.0. If you want a function that will return 0.0 in these cases, you will need to write a small wrapper yourself.

Also, this function works with the C-style string of a null terminated array of characters. If you're using a string object, it will need to be converted to a char* before you use this function.

Must say I agree with that the most elegant solution to this is using boost::lexical_cast. You can then catch the bad_lexical_cast that might occure, and do something when it fails, instead of getting 0.0 which atof gives.

#include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>
#include <string>

int main()
{
    std::string str = "3.14";
    double strVal;
    try {
        strVal = boost::lexical_cast<double>(str);
    } catch(bad_lexical_cast&) {
        //Do your errormagic
    }
    return 0;
}

See C++ FAQ Lite How do I convert a std::string to a number?

See C++ Super-FAQ How do I convert a std::string to a number?

Please note that with your requirements you can't distinguish all the the allowed string representations of zero from the non numerical strings.

 // the requested function
 #include <sstream>
 double string_to_double( const std::string& s )
 {
   std::istringstream i(s);
   double x;
   if (!(i >> x))
     return 0;
   return x;
 } 

 // some tests
 #include <cassert>
 int main( int, char** )
 {
    // simple case:
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( "0.5"    ) );

    // blank space:
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( "0.5 "   ) );
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( " 0.5"   ) );

    // trailing non digit characters:
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( "0.5a"   ) );

    // note that with your requirements you can't distinguish
    // all the the allowed string representation of zero from
    // the non numerical strings:
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0"       ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0."      ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0"     ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.00"    ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0e0"   ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0e-0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0e+0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0"      ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0."     ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0"    ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.00"   ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0e0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0e-0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0e+0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0"      ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0."     ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0"    ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.00"   ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0e0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0e-0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0e+0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "foobar"  ) );
    return 0;
 }

One of the most elegant solution to this problem is to use boost::lexical_cast as @Evgeny Lazin mentioned.

If it is a c-string (null-terminated array of type char), you can do something like:

#include <stdlib.h>
char str[] = "3.14159";
double num = atof(str);

If it is a C++ string, just use the c_str() method:

double num = atof( cppstr.c_str() );

atof() will convert the string to a double, returning 0 on failure. The function is documented here: http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/cstdlib/atof.html

There is not a single function that will do that, because 0 is a valid number and you need to be able to catch when the string is not a valid number.

You will need to check the string first (probably with a regular expression) to see if it contains only numbers and numerical punctuation. You can then decide to return 0 if that is what your application needs or convert it to a double.

After looking up atof() and strtod() I should rephrase my statement to "there shouldn't be" instead of "there is not" ... hehe

I think atof is exactly what you want. This function parses a string and converts it into a double. If the string does not start with a number (non-numerical) a 0.0 is returned.

However, it does try to parse as much of the string as it can. In other words, the string "3abc" would be interpreted as 3.0. If you want a function that will return 0.0 in these cases, you will need to write a small wrapper yourself.

Also, this function works with the C-style string of a null terminated array of characters. If you're using a string object, it will need to be converted to a char* before you use this function.

See C++ FAQ Lite How do I convert a std::string to a number?

See C++ Super-FAQ How do I convert a std::string to a number?

Please note that with your requirements you can't distinguish all the the allowed string representations of zero from the non numerical strings.

 // the requested function
 #include <sstream>
 double string_to_double( const std::string& s )
 {
   std::istringstream i(s);
   double x;
   if (!(i >> x))
     return 0;
   return x;
 } 

 // some tests
 #include <cassert>
 int main( int, char** )
 {
    // simple case:
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( "0.5"    ) );

    // blank space:
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( "0.5 "   ) );
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( " 0.5"   ) );

    // trailing non digit characters:
    assert( 0.5 == string_to_double( "0.5a"   ) );

    // note that with your requirements you can't distinguish
    // all the the allowed string representation of zero from
    // the non numerical strings:
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0"       ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0."      ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0"     ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.00"    ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0e0"   ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0e-0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "0.0e+0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0"      ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0."     ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0"    ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.00"   ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0e0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0e-0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "+0.0e+0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0"      ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0."     ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0"    ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.00"   ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0e0"  ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0e-0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "-0.0e+0" ) );
    assert( 0 == string_to_double( "foobar"  ) );
    return 0;
 }

atof and strtod do what you want but are very forgiving. If you don't want to accept strings like "32asd" as valid you need to wrap strtod in a function such as this:

#include <stdlib.h>
double strict_str2double(char* str)
{
    char* endptr;
    double value = strtod(str, &endptr);
    if (*endptr) return 0;
    return value;
}

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    cout << stod("  99.999  ") << endl;
}

Output: 99.999 (which is double, whitespace was automatically stripped)

Since C++11 converting string to floating-point values (like double) is available with functions:
stof - convert str to a float
stod - convert str to a double
stold - convert str to a long double

I want a function that returns 0 when the string is not numerical.

You can add try catch statement when stod throws an exception.

One of the most elegant solution to this problem is to use boost::lexical_cast as @Evgeny Lazin mentioned.

If it is a c-string (null-terminated array of type char), you can do something like:

#include <stdlib.h>
char str[] = "3.14159";
double num = atof(str);

If it is a C++ string, just use the c_str() method:

double num = atof( cppstr.c_str() );

atof() will convert the string to a double, returning 0 on failure. The function is documented here: http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/cstdlib/atof.html