A standard numeric format string can be used to define the formatting of a numeric value in one of two ways:

• It can be passed to an overload of the ToString method that has a format parameter. The following example formats a numeric value as a currency string in the current (in this case, the en-US) culture.

  C#

  VB

  decimal value = 123.456m;
  Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("C2"));
  // Displays $123.46
  

• It can be supplied as the formatString parameter in a format item used with such methods asString.Format, Console.WriteLine, and StringBuilder.AppendFormat. For more information, seeComposite Formatting. The following example uses a format item to insert a currency value in a string.

  C#

  VB

  decimal value = 123.456m;
  Console.WriteLine("Your account balance is {0:C2}.", value);
  // Displays "Your account balance is $123.46."
  

The following sections provide detailed information about each of the standard numeric format strings.

The "C" (or currency) format specifier converts a number to a string that represents a currency amount. The precision specifier indicates the desired number of decimal places in the result string. If the precision specifier is omitted, the default precision is defined by theNumberFormatInfo.CurrencyDecimalDigits property.

If the value to be formatted has more than the specified or default number of decimal places, the fractional value is rounded in the result string. If the value to the right of the number of specified decimal places is 5 or greater, the last digit in the result string is rounded away from zero.

The result string is affected by the formatting information of the current NumberFormatInfo object. The following table lists the NumberFormatInfo properties that control the formatting of the returned string.

The following example formats a Double value with the currency format specifier.

double value = 12345.6789;
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("C", CultureInfo.CurrentCulture));

Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("C3", CultureInfo.CurrentCulture));

Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("C3", 
                  CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("da-DK")));
// The example displays the following output on a system whose 
// current culture is English (United States): 
//       $12,345.68 
//       $12,345.679 
//       kr 12.345,679

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The "D" (or decimal) format specifier converts a number to a string of decimal digits (0-9), prefixed by a minus sign if the number is negative. This format is supported only for integral types.

The precision specifier indicates the minimum number of digits desired in the resulting string. If required, the number is padded with zeros to its left to produce the number of digits given by the precision specifier. If no precision specifier is specified, the default is the minimum value required to represent the integer without leading zeros.

The result string is affected by the formatting information of the current NumberFormatInfo object. As the following table shows, a single property affects the formatting of the result string.

The following example formats an Int32 value with the decimal format specifier.

int value; 

value = 12345;
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("D"));
// Displays 12345
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("D8"));
// Displays 00012345 

value = -12345;
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("D"));
// Displays -12345
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("D8"));
// Displays -00012345

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The exponential ("E") format specifier converts a number to a string of the form "-d.ddd…E+ddd" or "-d.ddd…e+ddd", where each "d" indicates a digit (0-9). The string starts with a minus sign if the number is negative. Exactly one digit always precedes the decimal point.

The precision specifier indicates the desired number of digits after the decimal point. If the precision specifier is omitted, a default of six digits after the decimal point is used.

The case of the format specifier indicates whether to prefix the exponent with an "E" or an "e". The exponent always consists of a plus or minus sign and a minimum of three digits. The exponent is padded with zeros to meet this minimum, if required.

The result string is affected by the formatting information of the current NumberFormatInfo object. The following table lists the NumberFormatInfo properties that control the formatting of the returned string.

The following example formats a Double value with the exponential format specifier.

double value = 12345.6789;
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("E", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 1.234568E+004

Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("E10", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 1.2345678900E+004

Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("e4", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 1.2346e+004

Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("E", 
                  CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")));
// Displays 1,234568E+004

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The fixed-point ("F) format specifier converts a number to a string of the form "-ddd.ddd…" where each "d" indicates a digit (0-9). The string starts with a minus sign if the number is negative.

The precision specifier indicates the desired number of decimal places. If the precision specifier is omitted, the current NumberFormatInfo.NumberDecimalDigits property supplies the numeric precision.

The result string is affected by the formatting information of the current NumberFormatInfo object. The following table lists the properties of the NumberFormatInfo object that control the formatting of the result string.

The following example formats a Double and an Int32 value with the fixed-point format specifier.

int integerNumber;
integerNumber = 17843;
Console.WriteLine(integerNumber.ToString("F", 
                  CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 17843.00

integerNumber = -29541;
Console.WriteLine(integerNumber.ToString("F3", 
                  CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays -29541.000 

double doubleNumber;
doubleNumber = 18934.1879;
Console.WriteLine(doubleNumber.ToString("F", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 18934.19

Console.WriteLine(doubleNumber.ToString("F0", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 18934

doubleNumber = -1898300.1987;
Console.WriteLine(doubleNumber.ToString("F1", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));  
// Displays -1898300.2

Console.WriteLine(doubleNumber.ToString("F3", 
                  CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("es-ES")));
// Displays -1898300,199                        

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The general ("G") format specifier converts a number to the most compact of either fixed-point or scientific notation, depending on the type of the number and whether a precision specifier is present. The precision specifier defines the maximum number of significant digits that can appear in the result string. If the precision specifier is omitted or zero, the type of the number determines the default precision, as indicated in the following table.

Fixed-point notation is used if the exponent that would result from expressing the number in scientific notation is greater than -5 and less than the precision specifier; otherwise, scientific notation is used. The result contains a decimal point if required, and trailing zeros after the decimal point are omitted. If the precision specifier is present and the number of significant digits in the result exceeds the specified precision, the excess trailing digits are removed by rounding.

However, if the number is a Decimal and the precision specifier is omitted, fixed-point notation is always used and trailing zeros are preserved.

If scientific notation is used, the exponent in the result is prefixed with "E" if the format specifier is "G", or "e" if the format specifier is "g". The exponent contains a minimum of two digits. This differs from the format for scientific notation that is produced by the exponential format specifier, which includes a minimum of three digits in the exponent.

The result string is affected by the formatting information of the current NumberFormatInfo object. The following table lists the NumberFormatInfo properties that control the formatting of the result string.

The following example formats assorted floating-point values with the general format specifier.

double number;

number = 12345.6789;      
Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("G", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays  12345.6789
Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("G", 
                  CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")));
// Displays 12345,6789

Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("G7", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 12345.68 

number = .0000023;
Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("G", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 2.3E-06       
Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("G", 
                  CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")));
// Displays 2,3E-06

number = .0023;
Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("G", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 0.0023

number = 1234;
Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("G2", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 1.2E+03

number = Math.PI;
Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("G5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 3.1416    

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The numeric ("N") format specifier converts a number to a string of the form "-d,ddd,ddd.ddd…", where "-" indicates a negative number symbol if required, "d" indicates a digit (0-9), "," indicates a group separator, and "." indicates a decimal point symbol. The precision specifier indicates the desired number of digits after the decimal point. If the precision specifier is omitted, the number of decimal places is defined by the current NumberFormatInfo.NumberDecimalDigits property.

The result string is affected by the formatting information of the current NumberFormatInfo object. The following table lists the NumberFormatInfo properties that control the formatting of the result string.

The following example formats assorted floating-point values with the number format specifier.

double dblValue = -12445.6789;
Console.WriteLine(dblValue.ToString("N", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays -12,445.68
Console.WriteLine(dblValue.ToString("N1", 
                  CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("sv-SE")));
// Displays -12 445,7 

int intValue = 123456789;
Console.WriteLine(intValue.ToString("N1", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 123,456,789.0 

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The percent ("P") format specifier multiplies a number by 100 and converts it to a string that represents a percentage. The precision specifier indicates the desired number of decimal places. If the precision specifier is omitted, the default numeric precision supplied by the currentPercentDecimalDigits property is used.

The following table lists the NumberFormatInfo properties that control the formatting of the returned string.

The following example formats floating-point values with the percent format specifier.

double number = .2468013;
Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("P", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 24.68 %
Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("P", 
                  CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("hr-HR")));
// Displays 24,68%     
Console.WriteLine(number.ToString("P1", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
// Displays 24.7 %

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The round-trip ("R") format specifier guarantees that a numeric value that is converted to a string will be parsed back into the same numeric value. This format is supported only for the Single, Double, and BigInteger types.

When a BigInteger value is formatted using this specifier, its string representation contains all the significant digits in the BigInteger value. When a Single or Double value is formatted using this specifier, it is first tested using the general format, with 15 digits of precision for a Double and 7 digits of precision for a Single. If the value is successfully parsed back to the same numeric value, it is formatted using the general format specifier. If the value is not successfully parsed back to the same numeric value, it is formatted using 17 digits of precision for a Double and 9 digits of precision for aSingle.

Although you can include a precision specifier, it is ignored. Round trips are given precedence over precision when using this specifier.

The result string is affected by the formatting information of the current NumberFormatInfo object. The following table lists the NumberFormatInfo properties that control the formatting of the result string.

The following example formats Double values with the round-trip format specifier.

double value;

value = Math.PI;
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("r"));
// Displays 3.1415926535897931
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("r", 
                  CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")));
// Displays 3,1415926535897931 
value = 1.623e-21;
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("r"));
// Displays 1.623E-21

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The hexadecimal ("X") format specifier converts a number to a string of hexadecimal digits. The case of the format specifier indicates whether to use uppercase or lowercase characters for hexadecimal digits that are greater than 9. For example, use "X" to produce "ABCDEF", and "x" to produce "abcdef". This format is supported only for integral types.

The precision specifier indicates the minimum number of digits desired in the resulting string. If required, the number is padded with zeros to its left to produce the number of digits given by the precision specifier.

The result string is not affected by the formatting information of the current NumberFormatInfoobject.

The following example formats Int32 values with the hexadecimal format specifier.

int value; 

value = 0x2045e;
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("x"));
// Displays 2045e
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("X"));
// Displays 2045E
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("X8"));
// Displays 0002045E 

value = 123456789;
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("X"));
// Displays 75BCD15
Console.WriteLine(value.ToString("X2"));
// Displays 75BCD15

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The following example formats an integral and a floating-point numeric value using the en-US culture and all the standard numeric format specifiers. This example uses two particular numeric types (Double and Int32), but would yield similar results for any of the other numeric base types (Byte,SByte, Int16, Int32, Int64, UInt16, UInt32, UInt64, BigInteger, Decimal, and Single).

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;

public class NumericFormats
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      // Display string representations of numbers for en-us culture
      CultureInfo ci = new CultureInfo("en-us");

      // Output floating point values 
      double floating = 10761.937554;
      Console.WriteLine("C: {0}", 
              floating.ToString("C", ci));           // Displays "C: $10,761.94"
      Console.WriteLine("E: {0}", 
              floating.ToString("E03", ci));         // Displays "E: 1.076E+004"
      Console.WriteLine("F: {0}", 
              floating.ToString("F04", ci));         // Displays "F: 10761.9376"         
      Console.WriteLine("G: {0}",  
              floating.ToString("G", ci));           // Displays "G: 10761.937554"
      Console.WriteLine("N: {0}", 
              floating.ToString("N03", ci));         // Displays "N: 10,761.938"
      Console.WriteLine("P: {0}", 
              (floating/10000).ToString("P02", ci)); // Displays "P: 107.62 %"
      Console.WriteLine("R: {0}", 
              floating.ToString("R", ci));           // Displays "R: 10761.937554"            
      Console.WriteLine();

      // Output integral values 
      int integral = 8395;
      Console.WriteLine("C: {0}", 
              integral.ToString("C", ci));           // Displays "C: $8,395.00"
      Console.WriteLine("D: {0}", 
              integral.ToString("D6", ci));          // Displays "D: 008395" 
      Console.WriteLine("E: {0}", 
              integral.ToString("E03", ci));         // Displays "E: 8.395E+003"
      Console.WriteLine("F: {0}", 
              integral.ToString("F01", ci));         // Displays "F: 8395.0"    
      Console.WriteLine("G: {0}",  
              integral.ToString("G", ci));           // Displays "G: 8395"
      Console.WriteLine("N: {0}", 
              integral.ToString("N01", ci));         // Displays "N: 8,395.0"
      Console.WriteLine("P: {0}", 
              (integral/10000.0).ToString("P02", ci)); // Displays "P: 83.95 %"
      Console.WriteLine("X: 0x{0}", 
              integral.ToString("X", ci));           // Displays "X: 0x20CB"
      Console.WriteLine();
   }
}