How to check if a string contains only numbers?
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Is there any expression for this ? For example :
-100 should return 1
a100b should return 0
0.1256 should return 1 and so on
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Accepted Answer
Walter Roberson
on 14 Dec 2017
The easiest way is to check if str2double() returns nan. Otherwise you need to parse the string and there are a number of odd cases to account for in scientific notation.
Note: if you do use str2double() you should give some consideration as to what result you want for complex numbers, whether those are to be treated as numeric or as invalid because of the 'i' or 'j' present.
4 Comments
Stephen23
on 15 Dec 2017
"why would it be easier than isnumeric()?"
Because isnumeric tests if the type is numeric. The question specifically states the input is string/char.
YT
on 15 Dec 2017
@replies, thanks for clarifying. Somehow I didn't read the title well enough. I'll remove my answer.
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