Convert string to number / Convert number to string in JavaScript

This EE article provides JavaScript examples of conversion from string to integer, string to floating-point, and number to string.  We'll also look at some related topics, including how to format numeric output with two decimal places, and one way to do right-justification of numeric text.

0. First... The Short Answer

//------------------ convert number to string
                      var n= 123;    // n is a number -- value is one hundred-twenty-three
                      var s= ''+n;   // s is a string with three characters -- value is '123'
                      
                      //------------------ convert string to number
                      var s= '12 days';     // s is a string
                      var n= parseInt( s ); // n is a number -- value is twelve

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Thus, the simplest technique for number-to-string is to let the string concatenation operator do it for you.  And the parseInt() function is the most reliable way to break out a numeric value that's at the start of a string (or is the entire string).

0. Automatic Conversion

JavaScript will do most conversions for you automatically:

var n=1234;
                      alert(n);
                      alert( 'The value is: ' + n );

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The first example uses the fact that the alert function (or WScript.Echo) displays textual (string) data, so the parameter is converted automatically for you.  The second example uses the fact that concatenating a number to a string forces an automatic conversion.

However, there are cases where the built-in conversion might not work as hoped.  For instance,  

var nHundreds=1;
                      var nTens=2;
                      var nOnes=3;
                      alert( 'The answer is ' + nHundreds+nTens+nOnes  );  // The answer is 123
                      alert( 'The answer is ' + (nHundreds+nTens+nOnes) ); // The answer is 6 
                      alert( nHundreds+nTens+nOnes + ' is the answer' );   // 6 is the answer
                      var s= '7';
                      alert( nHundreds+nTens+nOnes +s+ ' is the answer' ); // 67 is the answer

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These examples illustrate now certain automatic type-conversions are performed.    JavaScript's + operator will try to make the "sum" (the concatenation result of two operands) to be the same data type as the addend (the first operand).

In the second example (line5), the parentheses make the numeric calculation into a single number value, rather than three string values.  

The third example has three numeric values at the start, so it treats them as numbers when added.  Then it encounters a string, so it converts the addend (a number) into a string for string concatenation.

The fourth example is a bit more subtle.  The fourth item (variable s) is a one-character string.  One might think that JavaScript would convert it to a number so that it could be added to the previous numbers.  But a string datatype always trumps a numeric datatype, so adding s is a string concatenation -- not a numeric addition.

0. Explicit Conversion

JavaScript provides operators that you can use to avoid any ambiguities that might crop up.  That is, rather than letting the language interpreter do an automatic conversion, you can force the datatype.

The toString() function outputs a string.  The parseInt() function outputs an integer number.  For instance:

var n1= 1;                 // a number
                      var n2= 2;                 // a number
                      alert( n1+n2 );            // shows 3 (a number)
                      alert( n1+n2.toString() ); // shows '12' (a string)
                      
                      var s1= '1';               // a string
                      var s2= '2';               // a string
                      alert( s1+s2 );            // shows '12' (a string)
                      alert( parseInt(s1)+parseInt(s2) ); // shows 3 (a number)

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Most textual strings that you need to convert will be composed of decimal digits.  But parseInt() will treat a string in the form 0xnnnn as a hexadecimal input value.   You can also explicitly select the numeric base using an optional second parameter (the radix).   Examples:

var s1='0xFF';  
                      alert( parseInt(s1) );    // shows 255
                      
                      var s2='ffff';  
                      alert( parseInt(s2,16) ); // shows 65535
                      
                      var s2='00000101';  
                      alert( parseInt(s2,2) );  // shows 5 (decimal value of binary 101 )  

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The last example converts a string of 0s and 1s (presumed to represent a binary -- base 2 --  value) into a decimal value; i.e., something more useful for human consumption.

Important notes about parseInt():
The parseInt() function discards any leading whitespace, then reads the string from left to right, stopping when it hits an unexpected character.    That can be very useful.  For instance, it lets you collect a numeric value at the start of a string without needing to know how many characters long it is:

var s= '   100%</div>'; // a snip of HTML
                      alert( parseInt(s) );   // shows 100 

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But it considers a commas and periods (along with all other non-digit values) as delimiters (where it will stop parsing).  So,

var s1= '1,000,000.00'; 
                      alert( parseInt(s1) );   // shows 1 
                      
                      var s2= '123.99'; 
                      alert( parseInt(s2) );   // shows 123 
                      
                      var s3= '$123.99'; 
                      alert( parseInt(s3) );   // shows NAN (or 1.#QNAN)

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The last one is most problematic.  If the input string does not start with a valid digit (or whitespace followed by a valid digit), your output will look pretty ugly.  If you can't be sure that the string will parse into a valid numeric value, then use the isNaN() function:

var n= parseInt( s );
                      if ( isNaN(n) ) {
                          ... s was invalid input, do something.  Don't display it.
                      }

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Finally, if the text being parsed begins with a leading zero, it will be parsed as an octal number.  That's fine for values like 007, but it can lead to confusing results...

alert( parseInt('011') );     // shows 9
                      alert( parseInt('011',10) );  // shows 11

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So it is advisable to use the radix parameter to avoid getting unexpected values.

0. String to Floating-Point

Up until now, we've assumed that you are converting to an integer.  When your expected input value may contain a decimal point, you should use parseFloat().  For instance:

var s1= ' 12345.67 (low down payment)';
                      alert( parseFloat(s1) );   // shows 12345.67
                      
                      var s2= ' 12345.00';
                      alert( parseFloat(s2) );   // shows 12345

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Notice that in the second example, we lose the "cents" -- if there is nothing but zeros after the decimal point (it's a whole number) then we may need to do some work to format it for output.   Fortunately, the most common need is covered by a standard JavaScript function, toFixed().  Just specify 2 decimal places, and your output will show dollars and cents as expected:

var s1= ' 12345.00';
                      var n1= parseFloat(s1);  // value is 12345
                      alert( n1.toFixed(2) );  // shows 12345.00
                      
                      var n2= 12345.666;
                      alert( n2.toFixed(2) );  // shows 12345.67 <<= Note: rounded up

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Format as U.S. Currency
As the final tip for this article, here is a little routine that I use when I need a fixed-width output of a dollars and cents value.  Pass in a number, and it outputs a string formatted as U.S. currency, with leading dollar sign, decimal point and two digits, commas separating thousands, millions, and billions, and it's padded with leading spaces so that columns of these formatted values will line up:

//---- outputs a string value: (spaces)$n,nnn.nn
                      function toDollars( nValue, nWide ) {
                          var s= nValue.toFixed(2);
                          for( j=6; j<15; j+=4 ) {  // insert commas
                              if ( s.length > j ) { 
                                  s= s.substr(0,s.length-j)+','+ s.substr(s.length-j);
                              }
                          }
                          s= '$'+s;  // leading dollar sign
                          if ( !isNaN(nWide) ) { // parameter is present
                              while( nWide > s.length ) {  // pad with leading spaces
                                  s=' '+s;
                              }
                          }
                          return(s);
                      }
                      //usage example
                      var s= toDollars(1234567.88,15) +"\n";
                        s += toDollars(     17.88,15) +"\n";
                        s += toDollars(     0.888,15);
                      // output is:
                      //  $1,234,567.88
                      //         $17.88
                      //          $0.89

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References:

JavaScript parseInt() Function
http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_parseInt.asp

JavaScript parseFloat() Function
http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_parseFloat.asp

JavaScript toString() Method
http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_tostring_number.asp

JavaScript toFixed() Method
http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_tofixed.asp

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