Float <-> String - Locale aware?

[Dan Rathbun]

@thomthom said:

Now, if only I could find a method for the other way around...

I don't think I can test the other way as my locale setting uses period as decimal point.

If your model units are metric, and your OS locale decimal separator is comma, what happens when you try to use the base class (SU extended) method String.to_l ?

Ex:
length = "5,43".to_l
(1) what does length then appear as in the console ?
(2) what does it appear as in an inputbox control ?
(3) what does it appear as in a webdialog ?

What happens when:
length = "5.43".to_l

[cjthompson]

Why won't "12,2".to_l.to_f work?

[Dan Rathbun]

@thomthom said:

Found a nice method:
...[snip]...
Example, Norwegian locale and 1 digit precision:
Sketchup.format_degrees(500.555)
Returns the string: "~ 500,6"

What happens when:
Sketchup.format_degrees(500,555)
Wouldn't you be specifying decimals in euro-format?
When I try it there is a conflict; Ruby sees the comma as an argument delimiter, and pukes up an argument (2 for 1) exception.

[Dan Rathbun]

@cjthompson said:

Why won't "12,2".to_l.to_f work?

I can't test that; it raises an:
<ArgumentError: (eval):0:into_l': Cannot convert "12,2" to Length>` because I think of my US-en locale settings.
TT will need to test it, with his euro settings.

Of course, "12.2".to_l.to_f works just fine for me (and anyone in the US.)

[Dan Rathbun]

@dan rathbun said:

@cjthompson said:

Why won't "12,2".to_l.to_f work?

Of course, "12.2".to_l.to_f works just fine for me (and anyone in the US.)

I take that back.

I set Format=Decimal, Units=Millimeters, Precision=0.0000mm, and the value returned (in Inches,) is:
"12.2".to_l.to_f >> 0.480314960629921
which is a precision to 15 decimal places. [FYI: 12.7mm is considered 0.5 inches. You often see 50 caliber weapons expressed as 12.7mm]

[thomthom]

@dan rathbun said:

(1) what does length then appear as in the console ?

length = "5,43".to_l
0.213779527559055

Because I use metric mm template it also converts the float into inches.

@dan rathbun said:

(2) what does it appear as in an inputbox control ?

Because .to_s is called upon the Length object.

@dan rathbun said:

(3) what does it appear as in a webdialog ?

You'd have to convert it to a string to pass it to a webdialog, so the result would be the same as above.

[thomthom]

@dan rathbun said:

What happens when:
length = "5.43".to_l

length = "5.43".to_l Error: #<ArgumentError: (eval):894:into_l': Cannot convert "5.43" to Length>
(eval):894`

[thomthom]

@cjthompson said:

Why won't "12,2".to_l.to_f work?

"12,2".to_l.to_f 0.480314960629921

It doesn't work because SU does unit conversion at the same time.

[Dan Rathbun]

Back to the original question, then:

@thomthom said:

Is there any methods that do these conversions that are locale aware?

Are the Sketchup method extensions to the base classes, locale aware and suit your needs ??
String.to_l
Numeric.to_l

[thomthom]

@dan rathbun said:

Back to the original question, then:

@thomthom said:

Is there any methods that do these conversions that are locale aware?

Are the Sketchup method extensions to the base classes, locale aware and suit your needs ??
String.to_l
Numeric.to_l

.to_l and Length.to_s is locale aware. But, it does not suit my needs. I'm trying to convert between String and Float, not between String and Length.

As mentioned before:
Sketchup.format_degrees works for Float -> String
It even has the extra benefit of adhering to the model unit's precision.

But for String -> Float (where the string is formatted in the user's locale, which might include decimal separator other than a period) I only have this dirty hack:

  # Some locale settings uses the comma as decimal separator. .to_f does not
  # account for this, so all commas must be coverted to periods.
  def self.string_to_float(string)
    # Dirty hack to get the current locale's decimal separator, which is then
    # replaced in the string to a period which is what the .to_f method expects.
    @decimal_separator ||= 1.2.to_l.to_s.match(/\d(\D)\d/)[1]
    string.sub(@decimal_separator, '.').to_f
  end

[Dan Rathbun]

@thomthom said:

.to_l and Length.to_s is locale aware. But, it does not suit my needs. I'm trying to convert between String and Float, ... I only have this dirty hack:

you could subclass class String, and not need the parameter, ie:

class FloatString < String
  # override to_f method (or name it .to_loc_f )
  def self.to_f
    # insert your hack
  end
end # class

Use:
a = FloatString.new( someString.dup ) puts a.to_f puts a.class >> SomeModule::FloatString

[thomthom]

Well, how I wrap the code is one thing. But atm I'm more concerned about how I get the locale data.

It just occurred to me that might not be a good choice if one does not want the float to be truncated to the model's degree precision...

[Dan Rathbun]

We can see if the user is using metric, via:

module SU_UNIT
#
def length_name( arg='nameString' )
  #
  model = Sketchup.active_model 
  manager = model.options 
  unitopts = manager['UnitsOptions'] 
  #
  # allow the ordinal in the set to be returned if arg
  # is any class other than String (or a String subclass.)
  return unitopts['LengthUnit'] unless arg.kind_of?(String)
  #
  # arg was a String, so return LengthUnit stringname
  unit=''
  #
  if unitopts['LengthFormat']==0 # Decimal
    unitSet=['Inches','Feet','Millimeters','Centimeters','Meters']
    unit=unitSet[ unitopts['LengthUnit'] ]
  elsif unitopts['LengthFormat']==2 # Engineering
    unit='Feet'
  else # 1==Architectural, 3==Fractional
    unit='Inches'
  end # if
  #
  return unit
  #
end # method
#
end # module

%(#4000BF)[EDITED: wrapped in module and method blocks.
EDIT2: replaced case statement with array subscript call.
EDIT3: corrected ordinal values for LengthFormat (they do NOT appear in dropdown control in their true order!)
EDIT4: simplfied ordinal test; renamed method]

[Dan Rathbun]

@thomthom said:

decimal_separator = 1.2.to_l.to_s.match(/\d(\D)\d/)[1]
This returns the decimal separator.

1.23.to_s.tr!('.', decimal_separator)
And this outputs a string in the user's locale.

Hacky hacky hacky...

Now: how does one do this properly?

lets try sprintf (the standard **s**tring print **f**ormatted method,) which returns a formatted String.

On your machine how does the following work?
` decplaces=6 # some integer arg or expression
sprintf("%##{decplaces}f",51.1230)

the first '#' is a format flag

the second '#' is part of #{decplaces}`

[thomthom]

Tried that. It's locale unaware.

The only stuff I get on Ruby and locale relates to Ruby on Rails.

[eneroth3]

This method only works when format is set to decimal (or engineering which is also decimal) in the model info. If fractional or architectural are used '1.2.to_l.to_s" returns '~ 1 1/4"' without any decimal separator.