VB.NET Language in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Name

ValDec Function

Class

Microsoft.VisualBasic.Conversion

Syntax

ValDec(expression)

expression (required; String or Char): Any string representation of a number

Return Value

A Decimal able to hold the number contained in expression

Description

Converts a string representation of a number into a Decimal

Rules at a Glance

The ValDec function starts reading the string with the leftmost character and stops at the first character that it does not recognize as being part of a valid number. For example, the statement:
```
iNumber = ValDec("1A1")
```
returns 1.
&O and &H (the octal and hexadecimal prefixes) are recognized by the ValDec function.
Currency symbols, such as $ and £, and delimiters, such as commas, are not recognized as numbers by the ValDec function.
The ValDec function only recognizes the period (.) as a decimal delimiter.
Prior to processing expression, ValDec removes spaces, tabs, and line-feed characters.

Programming Tips and Gotchas

If you are developing an international application, you should use the CDec function to convert strings to numbers, since CDec can recognize all decimal separators.