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Q198098: PRB: CSng/CDbl Not Using Regional Settings for Decimal Symbol

Article: Q198098
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): WINDOWS:6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbVBp kbVBp600 kbGrpDSVB
Last Modified: 11-JAN-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows, version 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, version 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, version 6.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you change the Regional Settings to make the Number's decimal symbol the
same as the Currency's "digit grouping symbol," CSng does not interpret this
character as a decimal point. Therefore, you get a different result that you
would have in Visual Basic 5.0. This is also the case for the CDbl function.

CAUSE
=====

The new oleaut32 checks to see if the character is the Currency "digit grouping
symbol" first. If it is, then even if it's also the Number's decimal symbol, it
will be considered as the Currency "digit grouping symbol" instead of the
Number's decimal symbol.

RESOLUTION
==========

Resolve the conflicting by using the Regional Settings in the Control Panel on
the Start menu.

STATUS
======

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION
================

This new behavior is an enhancement, because the String you want to change to a
Single value may represent Currency, so it should be transformed to a correct
value. If you choose default settings for the locale, the decimal point symbol
is always different than that used as the digit grouping symbol of Currency. So
this problem only happens when one of these two settings is manually changed,
creating a conflict. Having conflicting symbols is not valid (not just in this
situation, but also in other situations) and will probably cause other problems
as well.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior
---------------------------

1. Create a Standard EXE project. Form1 is created by default.

2. Add a CommandButton to Form1 and place the following code into Form1's code
  window:

        Private Sub Command1_Click()
           Dim s As Single
           s = CSng("3,5")
           MsgBox s
           s = CSng("3.5")
           MsgBox s
        End Sub

3. Click "Start" on the Windows task bar, then Click "Settings" and then
  "Control Panel." A folder is displayed. Double-click the "Regional Settings"
  icon and you get a dialog box. Click the "Regional Settings" tab. Choose
  English (United States) from the drop-down ComboBox. Click "OK" (you may be
  asked to install the language packages and/or restart your system.) Run the
  app in Visual Basic 5.0 and in Visual Basic 6.0. You will get consistent
  results as 35 then 3.5.

4. Return to the Regional Settings as above. Click the Number tab and set the
  Decimal Symbol to be a comma (,), set the "Digit grouping symbol" to be a
  period (.), and click OK. Run the app in Visual Basic 5.0 and you get 3,5 and
  35 respectively. Run it in Visual Basic 6.0 and you get 35 (which is the new
  behavior) and 35.

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbVBp kbVBp600 kbGrpDSVB 
Technology        : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB600Search kbVBA600 kbVB600
Version           : WINDOWS:6.0
Issue type        : kbprb

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