PureBasic Forums - English

The problem is when evaluating a char (as string) Val returns 0: Wouldn't a -1 return value be better?
(since Val("-1") doesn't work anyway...)

Thanks for reading
fsw

nope, because the Value of the string is Zero, not minus one.
it has always been this way since the Function that returns a numerical Value of an alphanumerical string was invented.

try: ... dunno what you have messed up.

note:

Val, in all Basics, has always returned 0 if it starts with a non-digit. Many apps rely on this expected behavior, and to change it now would break a lot of code for no good reason.

fws wrote:(since Val("-1") doesn't work anyway...)

Huh? Returns -1 here, as expected. Works just fine.

Okay then return a #PB_ERROR constant value instead of zero.

Only because Basic's do something in a certain way doesn't mean it's the best way of doing things.

---

Now repeat after me: "Purebasic is NOT Basic" it's different - and that's why most users love it

The problem is you can't return a special value, as all values in the range are already possible. You would need another function (CheckNumber() or something) to do it properly.

fsw wrote:Okay then return a #PB_ERROR constant value instead of zero.

Only because Basic's do something in a certain way doesn't mean it's the best way of doing things.

But thats definately bad what you suggest. How would you differ from the value of the constant and the right value? Why don't you check yourself if the number is okay?

Lets say #PB_ERROR = -1234. How could you differ between Val("-1234") and Val("blubb")?

Will create my own function, thanks.

.