How do I parse a string to a float or int?

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30 Answers
>>> a = "545.2222"
>>> float(a)
545.22220000000004
>>> int(float(a))
545
def num(s):
    try:
        return int(s)
    except ValueError:
        return float(s)

Users codelogic and harley are correct, but keep in mind if you know the string is an integer (for example, 545) you can call int("545") without first casting to float.

If your strings are in a list, you could use the map function as well.

>>> x = ["545.0", "545.6", "999.2"]
>>> map(float, x)
[545.0, 545.60000000000002, 999.20000000000005]
>>>

It is only good if they're all the same type.

float("545.2222") and int(float("545.2222"))

You could use json.loads:

>>> import json
>>> json.loads('123.456')
123.456
>>> type(_)
<class 'float'>
>>> 

As you can see it becomes a type of float.

To typecast in Python use the constructor functions of the type, passing the string (or whatever value you are trying to cast) as a parameter.

For example:

>>>float("23.333")
   23.333

Behind the scenes, Python is calling the objects __float__ method, which should return a float representation of the parameter. This is especially powerful, as you can define your own types (using classes) with a __float__ method so that it can be casted into a float using float(myobject).

Pass your string to this function:

def string_to_number(str):
  if("." in str):
    try:
      res = float(str)
    except:
      res = str
  elif(str.isdigit()):
    res = int(str)
  else:
    res = str
  return(res)

It will return int, float or string depending on what was passed.

String that is an int

print(type(string_to_number("124")))
<class 'int'>

String that is a float

print(type(string_to_number("12.4")))
<class 'float'>

String that is a string

print(type(string_to_number("hello")))
<class 'str'>

String that looks like a float

print(type(string_to_number("hel.lo")))
<class 'str'>

Handles hex, octal, binary, decimal, and float

This solution will handle all of the string conventions for numbers (all that I know about).

def to_number(n):
    ''' Convert any number representation to a number
    This covers: float, decimal, hex, and octal numbers.
    '''

    try:
        return int(str(n), 0)
    except:
        try:
            # Python 3 doesn't accept "010" as a valid octal.  You must use the
            # '0o' prefix
            return int('0o' + n, 0)
        except:
            return float(n)

This test case output illustrates what I'm talking about.

======================== CAPTURED OUTPUT =========================
to_number(3735928559)   = 3735928559 == 3735928559
to_number("0xFEEDFACE") = 4277009102 == 4277009102
to_number("0x0")        =          0 ==          0
to_number(100)          =        100 ==        100
to_number("42")         =         42 ==         42
to_number(8)            =          8 ==          8
to_number("0o20")       =         16 ==         16
to_number("020")        =         16 ==         16
to_number(3.14)         =       3.14 ==       3.14
to_number("2.72")       =       2.72 ==       2.72
to_number("1e3")        =     1000.0 ==       1000
to_number(0.001)        =      0.001 ==      0.001
to_number("0xA")        =         10 ==         10
to_number("012")        =         10 ==         10
to_number("0o12")       =         10 ==         10
to_number("0b01010")    =         10 ==         10
to_number("10")         =         10 ==         10
to_number("10.0")       =       10.0 ==         10
to_number("1e1")        =       10.0 ==         10

Here is the test:

class test_to_number(unittest.TestCase):

    def test_hex(self):
        # All of the following should be converted to an integer
        #
        values = [

                 #          HEX
                 # ----------------------
                 # Input     |   Expected
                 # ----------------------
                (0xDEADBEEF  , 3735928559), # Hex
                ("0xFEEDFACE", 4277009102), # Hex
                ("0x0"       ,          0), # Hex

                 #        Decimals
                 # ----------------------
                 # Input     |   Expected
                 # ----------------------
                (100         ,        100), # Decimal
                ("42"        ,         42), # Decimal
            ]



        values += [
                 #        Octals
                 # ----------------------
                 # Input     |   Expected
                 # ----------------------
                (0o10        ,          8), # Octal
                ("0o20"      ,         16), # Octal
                ("020"       ,         16), # Octal
            ]


        values += [
                 #        Floats
                 # ----------------------
                 # Input     |   Expected
                 # ----------------------
                (3.14        ,       3.14), # Float
                ("2.72"      ,       2.72), # Float
                ("1e3"       ,       1000), # Float
                (1e-3        ,      0.001), # Float
            ]

        values += [
                 #        All ints
                 # ----------------------
                 # Input     |   Expected
                 # ----------------------
                ("0xA"       ,         10),
                ("012"       ,         10),
                ("0o12"      ,         10),
                ("0b01010"   ,         10),
                ("10"        ,         10),
                ("10.0"      ,         10),
                ("1e1"       ,         10),
            ]

        for _input, expected in values:
            value = to_number(_input)

            if isinstance(_input, str):
                cmd = 'to_number("{}")'.format(_input)
            else:
                cmd = 'to_number({})'.format(_input)

            print("{:23} = {:10} == {:10}".format(cmd, value, expected))
            self.assertEqual(value, expected)
a = int(float(a)) if int(float(a)) == float(a) else float(a)

If you are dealing with mixed integers and floats and want a consistent way to deal with your mixed data, here is my solution with the proper docstring:

def parse_num(candidate):
    """Parse string to number if possible
    It work equally well with negative and positive numbers, integers and floats.

    Args:
        candidate (str): string to convert

    Returns:
        float | int | None: float or int if possible otherwise None
    """
    try:
        float_value = float(candidate)
    except ValueError:
        return None

    # Optional part if you prefer int to float when decimal part is 0
    if float_value.is_integer():
        return int(float_value)
    # end of the optional part

    return float_value

# Test
candidates = ['34.77', '-13', 'jh', '8990', '76_3234_54']
res_list = list(map(parse_num, candidates))
print('Before:')
print(candidates)
print('After:')
print(res_list)

Output:

Before:
['34.77', '-13', 'jh', '8990', '76_3234_54']

After:
[34.77, -13, None, 8990, 76323454]

Use:

def num(s):
    try:
        for each in s:
            yield int(each)
    except ValueError:
        yield float(each)
a = num(["123.55","345","44"])
print a.next()
print a.next()

This is the most Pythonic way I could come up with.

This is a function which will convert any object (not just str) to int or float, based on if the actual string supplied looks like int or float. Further if it's an object which has both __float and __int__ methods, it defaults to using __float__

def conv_to_num(x, num_type='asis'):
    '''Converts an object to a number if possible.
    num_type: int, float, 'asis'
    Defaults to floating point in case of ambiguity.
    '''
    import numbers

    is_num, is_str, is_other = [False]*3

    if isinstance(x, numbers.Number):
        is_num = True
    elif isinstance(x, str):
        is_str = True

    is_other = not any([is_num, is_str])

    if is_num:
        res = x
    elif is_str:
        is_float, is_int, is_char = [False]*3
        try:
            res = float(x)
            if '.' in x:
                is_float = True
            else:
                is_int = True
        except ValueError:
            res = x
            is_char = True

    else:
        if num_type == 'asis':
            funcs = [int, float]
        else:
            funcs = [num_type]

        for func in funcs:
            try:
                res = func(x)
                break
            except TypeError:
                continue
        else:
            res = x

By using int and float methods we can convert a string to integer and floats.

s="45.8"
print(float(s))

y='67'
print(int(y))

For numbers and characters together:

string_for_int = "498 results should get"
string_for_float = "498.45645765 results should get"

First import re:

 import re

 # For getting the integer part:
 print(int(re.search(r'\d+', string_for_int).group())) #498

 # For getting the float part:
 print(float(re.search(r'\d+\.\d+', string_for_float).group())) #498.45645765

For easy model:

value1 = "10"
value2 = "10.2"
print(int(value1)) # 10
print(float(value2)) # 10.2

Here's another interpretation of your question (hint: it's vague). It's possible you're looking for something like this:

def parseIntOrFloat( aString ):
    return eval( aString )

It works like this...

>>> parseIntOrFloat("545.2222")
545.22220000000004
>>> parseIntOrFloat("545")
545

Theoretically, there's an injection vulnerability. The string could, for example be "import os; os.abort()". Without any background on where the string comes from, however, the possibility is theoretical speculation. Since the question is vague, it's not at all clear if this vulnerability actually exists or not.

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