Remember that
var x = 2-9999
is the same as
var x = -9997
because the dash is seen as a subtraction symbol unless you use quotation marks (Single or double, doesn't matter).
So, assuming that you properly quote the text, you can use the following function to always pull out a character that is in any given spot of the text (Using a zero-based index).
function extractChar(myString,locationOfChar){
var y = myString.substring(0,locationOfChar-1)
var z = myString.substring(locationOfChar+1)
var s = y.concat(z)
var i = parseInt(s,10)
return i
}
therefore
var i = extractChar("2-9999",1)
Will be the same as
var i = 29999
var x = "2-9999"? Becausevar x = 2-9999is-9997.