NumberFormat question

[jan ter avest]

This code is from the Whizlabs simulator:

Question... why do you need two instance of NumberFormat, one with a locale and one without? Can't I just use the Italian Locale instance to parse and format? Thanks
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import java.util.*;
import java.text.*;


class Locale2 {
public static void main( String[] args ) {
NumberFormat i = NumberFormat.getInstance(Locale.ITALY);
NumberFormat n = NumberFormat.getInstance();

try {
Number val = i.parse(args[0]);
String s=n.format(val);

System.out.println(s);
}
catch (ParseException e) { }

}
}

[marc weber]

The parse method takes a String, and returns a Number based on how it's understood to be formatted (what locale applies). The format method takes some type of value (it's overloaded to accept primitives or an Object) and returns a String that's formatted for the given locale.

The code above parses a String that's formatted in the Italian locale, but outputs a String formatted in the default locale. So it's reading it based on one locale, but outputting based on a different locale (unless your default is Italian).

So, for example, if I enter an argument of 12.345, this is parsed in the Italian locale, using the period as a separator, so the value is twelve-thousand, three-hundred forty-five. The using my default locale (US), this is output on my machine as 12,345.