toFloat

Converts a value to a floating point number. If the conversion fails, returns the default value.

Basic Usage

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

console.log(toFloat('3.14'))        // 3.14
console.log(toFloat('123'))         // 123.0
console.log(toFloat('abc', 0))      // 0
console.log(toFloat(null, 1.5))     // 1.5

Syntax

function toFloat(
  value: any,
  fallback?: number
): number

Parameters

• value (any): The value to convert
• fallback (number, optional): The default value if conversion fails, default is 0

Return Value

Returns the converted floating point number. If conversion fails, returns the fallback value.

Examples

Convert String

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

console.log(toFloat('3.14'))        // 3.14
console.log(toFloat('123'))         // 123.0
console.log(toFloat('0.5'))         // 0.5
console.log(toFloat('-2.5'))        // -2.5
console.log(toFloat('3.14e2'))      // 314.0

Convert Number

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

console.log(toFloat(3.14))          // 3.14
console.log(toFloat(123))           // 123.0
console.log(toFloat(0))             // 0.0
console.log(toFloat(-2.5))          // -2.5
console.log(toFloat(Infinity))      // Infinity
console.log(toFloat(-Infinity))     // -Infinity

Handling Invalid Values

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

console.log(toFloat('abc'))         // 0 (default fallback)
console.log(toFloat('abc', 1.5))    // 1.5
console.log(toFloat(null))          // 0
console.log(toFloat(null, 2.5))     // 2.5
console.log(toFloat(undefined))     // 0
console.log(toFloat(undefined, 3.5)) // 3.5
console.log(toFloat(NaN))           // 0
console.log(toFloat(NaN, 4.5))      // 4.5

Handling Special Strings

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

console.log(toFloat(''))            // 0
console.log(toFloat(' ', 1.0))      // 1.0
console.log(toFloat('  3.14  '))    // 3.14 (automatically trims spaces)
console.log(toFloat('3.14abc'))     // 0 (cannot parse)
console.log(toFloat('abc3.14'))     // 0 (cannot parse)

Handling Boolean Values

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

console.log(toFloat(true))          // 1.0
console.log(toFloat(false))         // 0.0

Handling Arrays and Objects

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

console.log(toFloat([]))            // 0
console.log(toFloat({}))            // 0
console.log(toFloat([1, 2, 3]))    // 0
console.log(toFloat({ key: 'value' })) // 0

Handling Functions

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

console.log(toFloat(() => {}))      // 0
console.log(toFloat(() => 42))      // 0

Usage in Form Processing

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

function processFormData(formData: any) {
  return {
    price: toFloat(formData.price, 0),
    quantity: toFloat(formData.quantity, 1),
    discount: toFloat(formData.discount, 0)
  }
}

const formData = {
  price: '29.99',
  quantity: '3',
  discount: 'invalid'
}

const processed = processFormData(formData)
console.log(processed)
// { price: 29.99, quantity: 3.0, discount: 0 }

Usage in API Response Processing

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

function processApiResponse(response: any) {
  return {
    id: response.id,
    score: toFloat(response.score, 0),
    rating: toFloat(response.rating, 5.0),
    price: toFloat(response.price, 0)
  }
}

const apiResponse = {
  id: 1,
  score: '8.5',
  rating: null,
  price: 'invalid'
}

const processed = processApiResponse(apiResponse)
console.log(processed)
// { id: 1, score: 8.5, rating: 5.0, price: 0 }

Usage in Calculations

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

function calculateTotal(items: any[]) {
  return items.reduce((total, item) => {
    const price = toFloat(item.price, 0)
    const quantity = toFloat(item.quantity, 1)
    return total + (price * quantity)
  }, 0)
}

const items = [
  { price: '10.50', quantity: '2' },
  { price: '5.25', quantity: '3' },
  { price: 'invalid', quantity: '1' }
]

const total = calculateTotal(items)
console.log(total) // 36.75 (10.5*2 + 5.25*3 + 0*1)

Handling Scientific Notation

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

console.log(toFloat('1.23e4'))      // 12300.0
console.log(toFloat('1.23E-2'))     // 0.0123
console.log(toFloat('1e6'))         // 1000000.0
console.log(toFloat('1.5e-3'))      // 0.0015

Handling Hexadecimal and Octal

import { toFloat } from 'radash'

console.log(toFloat('0xFF'))        // 0 (cannot parse hexadecimal)
console.log(toFloat('0o77'))        // 0 (cannot parse octal)
console.log(toFloat('0b1010'))      // 0 (cannot parse binary)

Notes

1. String Parsing: Only parses standard decimal number formats
2. Whitespace Handling: Automatically trims leading and trailing spaces in strings
3. Invalid Values: Returns fallback value for unparseable values
4. Boolean Values: true converts to 1.0, false converts to 0.0
5. Special Values: null, undefined, NaN, etc. return the fallback value

Differences from Other Methods

• parseFloat(): Similar function, but does not handle null/undefined
• Number(): Stricter conversion, NaN will return NaN
• toFloat(): Safer conversion method provided by radash
• +value: Fast conversion, but not safe

Practical Application Scenarios

1. Form Processing: Safely convert user input numbers
2. API Processing: Handle API responses that may contain invalid data
3. Calculations: Safely convert numbers in mathematical calculations
4. Data Validation: Validate and convert data types for numbers
5. Configuration Processing: Handle numeric settings in configuration files