VAL Function Concatenates Digits That Have Embedded Spaces (49709)

SUMMARY

The VAL function concatenates all digits that are separated by a space, a tab, or a linefeed character in the string argument.

In other words, VAL ignores space, tab, and linefeed characters that are embedded (leading or trailing) in the string argument. For example, the following code prints a value of 345678 (not 34):

   a$ = "  34  56  78"
   PRINT VAL(a$)

This behavior applies to Microsoft BASIC on most operating systems, including the following products:

Microsoft QuickBASIC Versions 1.00, 1.01, 1.02, 2.00, 2.01, 3.00, 4.00, 4.00b, and 4.50 for the IBM PC
Microsoft BASIC Compiler Versions 6.0, and 6.00b for MS-DOS and MS OS/2
Microsoft BASIC Profesional Development System 7.00 for MS-DOS.
Microsoft BASIC Compiler Versions 5.35 and 5.36 for MS-DOS
Microsoft GW-BASIC Interpreter Versions 3.20, 3.22, and 3.23
Microsoft QuickBASIC Version 1.00 for the Apple Macintosh
Microsoft BASIC Compiler Version 1.00 for the Apple Macintosh
Microsoft BASIC Interpreter Versions 1.00, 1.01, 2.00, 2.10, and 3.00 for the Apple Macintosh

MORE INFORMATION

The following code prints a value of 123.45 (not just 12) because spaces are ignored. The first decimal point is treated as part of the number, and the second decimal point acts as a delimiter:

   a$ = "12  3.4  5.6"
   PRINT VAL(a$)

The following examples also print 123.45, thus showing that tab and linefeed characters, as well as spaces, are ignored by the VAL function:

   a$="12"+CHR$(9)+" 3.4  5.6")    ' CHR$(9) is a tab character.
   PRINT VAL(a$)    ' PRINTs 123.45
   a$="12"+CHR$(10)+" 3.4  5.6")   ' CHR$(10) is linefeed character.
   PRINT VAL(a$)    ' PRINTs 123.45

To work around this behavior, make sure to separate with commas the numbers passed to VAL in a string. You can also parse the string into a new string before invoking VAL, such as in the following workaround.

WORKAROUND

Workaround Example

This program parses a string a$ such that the first trailing blank delimits the end of a number.

This program parses a string a$ such that the first trailing blank
delimits the end of a number.

PRINT "Enter the numeric string to parse ";
LINE INPUT a$
x = 1
b$ = ""
c$ = ""
DO UNTIL x > LEN(a$)
   c$ = MID$(a$, x, 1)    ' Puts character at column x into c$
   IF c$ <> CHR$(32) THEN
      b$ = b$ + c$        ' Build a string with no spaces.
   ELSEIF LEN(b$) > 0 THEN
      PRINT VAL(b$)
      EXIT DO             ' Stop parsing if trailing blank is found.
   END IF
   x = x + 1
LOOP

Programming note: The above example uses the DO...LOOP statement, which requires QuickBASIC 3.00 or later. For other products, use a different looping structure.