How can I parse a float scanned from a sheet as text, containing commas?
txt = "1,903.44"
value = float(txt) # This fails due to ',' in string
UPDATE: Sorry I wasn't clear. I'm using jython 2.5, which doesn't have the locale module.
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4 Answers
txt = "1,903.44"
value = float(txt.replace(',', ''))
If you need localization, this won't really work but it does the trick if you know that commas are your separators.
1 Comment
gregturn
This works the easiest, considering I don't have the locale module. Thanks!
Use locale.atof() after locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, '').
3 Comments
Joe Holloway
+1 Just wanted to add that if the OP is dealing with monetary values, it may be wiser to use the decimal package instead of floating points. stackoverflow.com/questions/723356/…
gregturn
You're right, this is for parsing an invoice to get a monetary amount.
Mark Ransom
You can use locale.localeconv()['thousands_sep'] to get the separator character for a locale-safe version of the replace idea. Except in Jython, apparently.
You could strip the commas:
txt = txt.replace(',', '')
value = float(txt)
Comments
I would personally use the decimal package when dealing with monetary values to avoid well-documented pitfalls that occur when using floating points.
from decimal import Decimal
txt = txt.replace (',', '')
value = Decimal(txt)
As noted by other posters, this only works if your locale is known to use ',' as thousands separator, but should get you going in the right direction.
