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

Question

In Python, how can I parse a numeric string like "545.2222" to its corresponding float value, 545.2222? Or parse the string "31" to an integer, 31?

I just want to know how to parse a float str to a float, and (separately) an int str to an int.

Answer 1

>>> a = "545.2222"
>>> float(a)
545.22220000000004
>>> int(float(a))
545

Answer 2

def num(s):
    try:
        return int(s)
    except ValueError:
        return float(s)

Answer 3

Python method to check if a string is a float:

def is_float(value):
  try:
    float(value)
    return True
  except:
    return False

A longer and more accurate name for this function could be: is_convertible_to_float(value)

What is, and is not a float in Python may surprise you:

val                   is_float(val) Note
--------------------  ----------   --------------------------------
""                    False        Blank string
"127"                 True         Passed string
True                  True         Pure sweet Truth
"True"                False        Vile contemptible lie
False                 True         So false it becomes true
"123.456"             True         Decimal
"      -127    "      True         Spaces trimmed
"\t\n12\r\n"          True         whitespace ignored
"NaN"                 True         Not a number
"NaNanananaBATMAN"    False        I am Batman
"-iNF"                True         Negative infinity
"123.E4"              True         Exponential notation
".1"                  True         mantissa only
"1,234"               False        Commas gtfo
u'\x30'               True         Unicode is fine.
"NULL"                False        Null is not special
0x3fade               True         Hexadecimal
"6e7777777777777"     True         Shrunk to infinity
"1.797693e+308"       True         This is max value
"infinity"            True         Same as inf
"infinityandBEYOND"   False        Extra characters wreck it
"12.34.56"            False        Only one dot allowed
u'四'                 False        Japanese '4' is not a float.
"#56"                 False        Pound sign
"56%"                 False        Percent of what?
"0E0"                 True         Exponential, move dot 0 places
0**0                  True         0___0  Exponentiation
"-5e-5"               True         Raise to a negative number
"+1e1"                True         Plus is OK with exponent
"+1e1^5"              False        Fancy exponent not interpreted
"+1e1.3"              False        No decimals in exponent
"-+1"                 False        Make up your mind
"(1)"                 False        Parenthesis is bad

You think you know what numbers are? You are not so good as you think! Not big surprise.

Don't use this code on life-critical software!

Catching broad exceptions this way, killing canaries and gobbling the exception creates a tiny chance that a valid float as string will return false. The float(...) line of code can failed for any of a thousand reasons that have nothing to do with the contents of the string. But if you're writing life-critical software in a duck-typing prototype language like Python, then you've got much larger problems.

Answer 4

This is another method which deserves to be mentioned here, ast.literal_eval:

This can be used for safely evaluating strings containing Python expressions from untrusted sources without the need to parse the values oneself.

That is, a safe 'eval'

>>> import ast
>>> ast.literal_eval("545.2222")
545.2222
>>> ast.literal_eval("31")
31

Answer 5

float(x) if '.' in x else int(x)

Answer 6

Localization and commas

You should consider the possibility of commas in the string representation of a number, for cases like float("545,545.2222") which throws an exception. Instead, use methods in locale to convert the strings to numbers and interpret commas correctly. The locale.atof method converts to a float in one step once the locale has been set for the desired number convention.

Example 1 -- United States number conventions

In the United States and the UK, commas can be used as a thousands separator. In this example with American locale, the comma is handled properly as a separator:

>>> import locale
>>> a = u'545,545.2222'
>>> locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'en_US.UTF-8')
'en_US.UTF-8'
>>> locale.atof(a)
545545.2222
>>> int(locale.atof(a))
545545
>>>

Example 2 -- European number conventions

In the majority of countries of the world, commas are used for decimal marks instead of periods. In this example with French locale, the comma is correctly handled as a decimal mark:

>>> import locale
>>> b = u'545,2222'
>>> locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'fr_FR')
'fr_FR'
>>> locale.atof(b)
545.2222

The method locale.atoi is also available, but the argument should be an integer.

Answer 7

If you aren't averse to third-party modules, you could check out the fastnumbers module. It provides a function called fast_real that does exactly what this question is asking for and does it faster than a pure-Python implementation:

>>> from fastnumbers import fast_real
>>> fast_real("545.2222")
545.2222
>>> type(fast_real("545.2222"))
float
>>> fast_real("31")
31
>>> type(fast_real("31"))
int

Answer 8

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.

Answer 9

In Python, how can I parse a numeric string like "545.2222" to its corresponding float value, 542.2222? Or parse the string "31" to an integer, 31? I just want to know how to parse a float string to a float, and (separately) an int string to an int.

It's good that you ask to do these separately. If you're mixing them, you may be setting yourself up for problems later. The simple answer is:

"545.2222" to float:

>>> float("545.2222")
545.2222

"31" to an integer:

>>> int("31")
31

Other conversions, ints to and from strings and literals:

Conversions from various bases, and you should know the base in advance (10 is the default). Note you can prefix them with what Python expects for its literals (see below) or remove the prefix:

>>> int("0b11111", 2)
31
>>> int("11111", 2)
31
>>> int('0o37', 8)
31
>>> int('37', 8)
31
>>> int('0x1f', 16)
31
>>> int('1f', 16)
31

If you don't know the base in advance, but you do know they will have the correct prefix, Python can infer this for you if you pass 0 as the base:

>>> int("0b11111", 0)
31
>>> int('0o37', 0)
31
>>> int('0x1f', 0)
31

Non-Decimal (i.e. Integer) Literals from other Bases

If your motivation is to have your own code clearly represent hard-coded specific values, however, you may not need to convert from the bases - you can let Python do it for you automatically with the correct syntax.

You can use the apropos prefixes to get automatic conversion to integers with the following literals. These are valid for Python 2 and 3:

Binary, prefix 0b

>>> 0b11111
31

Octal, prefix 0o

>>> 0o37
31

Hexadecimal, prefix 0x

>>> 0x1f
31

This can be useful when describing binary flags, file permissions in code, or hex values for colors - for example, note no quotes:

>>> 0b10101 # binary flags
21
>>> 0o755 # read, write, execute perms for owner, read & ex for group & others
493
>>> 0xffffff # the color, white, max values for red, green, and blue
16777215

Making ambiguous Python 2 octals compatible with Python 3

If you see an integer that starts with a 0, in Python 2, this is (deprecated) octal syntax.

>>> 037
31

It is bad because it looks like the value should be 37. So in Python 3, it now raises a SyntaxError:

>>> 037
  File "<stdin>", line 1
    037
      ^
SyntaxError: invalid token

Convert your Python 2 octals to octals that work in both 2 and 3 with the 0o prefix:

>>> 0o37
31

Answer 10

The question seems a little bit old. But let me suggest a function, parseStr, which makes something similar, that is, returns integer or float and if a given ASCII string cannot be converted to none of them it returns it untouched. The code of course might be adjusted to do only what you want:

   >>> import string
   >>> parseStr = lambda x: x.isalpha() and x or x.isdigit() and \
   ...                      int(x) or x.isalnum() and x or \
   ...                      len(set(string.punctuation).intersection(x)) == 1 and \
   ...                      x.count('.') == 1 and float(x) or x
   >>> parseStr('123')
   123
   >>> parseStr('123.3')
   123.3
   >>> parseStr('3HC1')
   '3HC1'
   >>> parseStr('12.e5')
   1200000.0
   >>> parseStr('12$5')
   '12$5'
   >>> parseStr('12.2.2')
   '12.2.2'

Answer 11

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

Answer 12

The YAML parser can help you figure out what datatype your string is. Use yaml.load(), and then you can use type(result) to test for type:

>>> import yaml

>>> a = "545.2222"
>>> result = yaml.load(a)
>>> result
545.22220000000004
>>> type(result)
<type 'float'>

>>> b = "31"
>>> result = yaml.load(b)
>>> result
31
>>> type(result)
<type 'int'>

>>> c = "HI"
>>> result = yaml.load(c)
>>> result
'HI'
>>> type(result)
<type 'str'>

Answer 13

I use this function for that

import ast

def parse_str(s):
   try:
      return ast.literal_eval(str(s))
   except:
      return

It will convert the string to its type

value = parse_str('1')  # Returns Integer
value = parse_str('1.5')  # Returns Float

Answer 14

def get_int_or_float(v):
    number_as_float = float(v)
    number_as_int = int(number_as_float)
    return number_as_int if number_as_float == number_as_int else number_as_float

Answer 15

def num(s):
    """num(s)
    num(3),num(3.7)-->3
    num('3')-->3, num('3.7')-->3.7
    num('3,700')-->ValueError
    num('3a'),num('a3'),-->ValueError
    num('3e4') --> 30000.0
    """
    try:
        return int(s)
    except ValueError:
        try:
            return float(s)
        except ValueError:
            raise ValueError('argument is not a string of number')

Answer 16

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'>

Answer 17

You need to take into account rounding to do this properly.

I.e. int(5.1) => 5 int(5.6) => 5 -- wrong, should be 6 so we do int(5.6 + 0.5) => 6

def convert(n):
    try:
        return int(n)
    except ValueError:
        return float(n + 0.5)

Answer 18

I am surprised nobody mentioned regex because sometimes string must be prepared and normalized before casting to number

import re
def parseNumber(value, as_int=False):
    try:
        number = float(re.sub('[^.\-\d]', '', value))
        if as_int:
            return int(number + 0.5)
        else:
            return number
    except ValueError:
        return float('nan')  # or None if you wish

usage:

parseNumber('13,345')
> 13345.0

parseNumber('- 123 000')
> -123000.0

parseNumber('99999\n')
> 99999.0

and by the way, something to verify you have a number:

import numbers
def is_number(value):
    return isinstance(value, numbers.Number)
    # will work with int, float, long, Decimal

Answer 19

To typecast in python use the constructor funtions 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).

Answer 20

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)

Answer 21

This is a corrected version of https://stackoverflow.com/a/33017514/5973334

This will try to parse a string and return either int or float depending on what the string represents. It might rise parsing exceptions or have some unexpected behaviour.

  def get_int_or_float(v):
        number_as_float = float(v)
        number_as_int = int(number_as_float)
        return number_as_int if number_as_float == number_as_int else 
        number_as_float

Answer 22

a = int(float(a)) if int(float(a)) == float(a) else float(a)

Answer 23

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.

Answer 24

Use:

>>> str_float = "545.2222"
>>> float(str_float)
545.2222
>>> type(_) # Check its type
<type 'float'>

>>> str_int = "31"
>>> int(str_int)
31
>>> type(_) # Check its type
<type 'int'>

Answer 25

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

Answer 26

for number and char together :

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

first import re:

 import re

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

 #for get 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

Answer 27

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))

Answer 28

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.