How to define format for output

Question

I have the below script which shows following format as output:

67534 : 0.645623
64653 : 0.854261
95688112 : 0.7566438

When I test my script on another system, the format of the second column(the float numbers) changed to something like: 12.3E^12. When I change the number format from the control panel, the format becomes okay. What is the solution to fix the format of numbers in my code instead of changing the number format of the system (only for second column (resultwithindex.result))?

foreach (var resultwithindex in results.Select((r, index) => new { result = r, Index = index }).OrderByDescending(r => r.result).Take(n))
{
  sb1.AppendFormat("{0}: {1}", c[resultwithindex.Index], resultwithindex.result);
  sb1.AppendLine();
}
MessageBox.Show(sb1.ToString());

Thanks in advance

Dai · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-25 22:57:02Z

2

The key is to use the "F6" format string for your decimal values.

You can either do the ToString call prior to sending it into AppendFormat (like so:)

sb1.Appendformat "{0}: {1}", c[resultwithindex.Index], resultwithindex.result.ToString("F6", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) );

...or take advantage of Composite Formatting strings and doing it like so:

sb1.Appendformat(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "{0}: {1:F6}", c[resultwithindex.Index], resultwithindex.result);

edited Mar 25, 2014 at 22:57

answered Mar 25, 2014 at 22:49

Dai

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5 Comments

StriplingWarrior Over a year ago

This will round the number to 6 decimal places. It doesn't sound like that's what he wants, since he's got a 7-decimal-place number in the sample he provided.

user3446681 Over a year ago

thank you @dai .if i do it, it shows the result always at the same as my system?

Dai Over a year ago

@StriplingWarrior It is an exercise left-up to the reader to modify it to use the desired number of decimal places :)

StriplingWarrior Over a year ago

@Dai: There is no number that would yield the desired results listed by the OP. You'll either round too low or add trailing zeroes. The point of the question is that the format changes depending on the user's system settings. I see that you added InvariantCulture: that is the correct approach. "F6" as a format string isn't. :-)

Dai Over a year ago

@StriplingWarrior Well, both - but using F6 also means you won't get the Exponential Notation.

StriplingWarrior · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-25 22:52:32Z

1

To avoid having the format of the strings depend on the culture settings for the machine that you're on, you'll want to specify a culture as a format provider. For example:

sb1.AppendFormat(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "{0}: {1}", 
                 c[resultwithindex.Index], resultwithindex.result);

answered Mar 25, 2014 at 22:52

StriplingWarrior

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4 Comments

user3446681 Over a year ago

thank you @StriplingWarrior .if i do it, it shows the result always at the same as my system?

StriplingWarrior Over a year ago

@user3446681: Yes, the InvariantCulture is meant to stay the same across different systems.

user3446681 Over a year ago

thanks to much @StriplingWarrior. Also May you tell me what is difference between your method and Dai (comment above)

StriplingWarrior Over a year ago

@user3446681: Yes. Dai's answer focuses on using a format specifier to indicate a fixed number of decimal spaces. He does this to prevent exponential notation from ever happening. My approach could potentially switch to that E^-12 mode, for example, if the numbers are small enough. I focused on the issue of the format changing from one machine to the next, although you may want to try a custom format if you need to ensure a specific format all the time.

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