# field character into field numeric **URL:** \ **Category:** Forum\ **Tags:** Adabas-Natural, Natural, Natural-on-Linux\ **Created:** [November 6, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706 "2012-11-06T15:43:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Claudio\_Muller](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/claudio_muller/32/518_2.png) [@Claudio\_Muller](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Claudio_Muller)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/1 "2012-11-06T15:43:38Z")
Hi, can i convert field character into field numeric? I read: #text (a50) ’ 12345’ ’ 4445565 ’ '1234 ’ (have spaces after and before the numbers) And i need to move only numeric into #numeric (n 8 ) ? ---
**Author:** ![Douglas\_Kelly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/douglas_kelly/32/102_2.png) [@Douglas\_Kelly](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Douglas_Kelly)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/2 "2012-11-06T16:10:47Z")
IF #text IS (N8) #num := VAL(#text) ElSE write #text “not a valid number” END-IF ---
**Author:** ![Claudio\_Muller](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/claudio_muller/32/518_2.png) [@Claudio\_Muller](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Claudio_Muller)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/3 "2012-11-06T16:12:36Z")
Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Ralph\_Zbrog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/ralph_zbrog/32/78_2.png) [@Ralph\_Zbrog](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Ralph_Zbrog)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/4 "2012-11-06T19:11:37Z")
Minor enhancement: ```auto IF #TEXT IS (N8) AND #TEXT <> ' ' /* <-- THEN #NUM := VAL (#TEXT) ELSE WRITE #TEXT 'not a valid number' END-IF ``` ---
**Author:** ![Todd\_Beckwith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/todd_beckwith/32/388_2.png) [@Todd\_Beckwith](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Todd_Beckwith)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/5 "2012-11-06T19:57:10Z")
Ralph, Why the check to make sure it isn’t blank? At least on HPUX, blank does not pass the “IS (N8)” test. Is the IS functionality not consistent on other platforms? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Robinson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/steve_robinson/32/107_2.png) [@Steve\_Robinson](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Steve_Robinson)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/6 "2012-11-06T21:40:25Z")
Hi Claudio; Was just a bit curious re your question. Do you want to extract all numeric strings from #text? If so you would SEPARATE #text into #ARRAY (_) /_ a blank is one of the default delimiters Then you could test the members of #array to see if they are numeric (as discussed in earlier posts). steve ---
**Author:** ![Claudio\_Muller](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/claudio_muller/32/518_2.png) [@Claudio\_Muller](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Claudio_Muller)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/7 "2012-11-06T23:57:26Z")
I dont use array with VAL… ---
**Author:** ![Ralph\_Zbrog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/ralph_zbrog/32/78_2.png) [@Ralph\_Zbrog](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Ralph_Zbrog)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/8 "2012-11-07T16:48:10Z")
I had presumed that the LUW behavior matched the mainframe, where the IS clause accepts a blank value but the VAL function does not. I’ll continue to use the additional test until Natural’s syntax is synchronized on the two platforms. Version 8, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Todd\_Beckwith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/user_avatar/techcommunity.softwareag.com/todd_beckwith/32/388_2.png) [@Todd\_Beckwith](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Todd_Beckwith)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/9 "2012-11-07T17:45:16Z")
Good to know Ralph, in case I get canned here and have to find employment in a Mainframe shop. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Nikolay\_Kuhta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/35a633/32.png) [@Nikolay\_Kuhta](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/Nikolay_Kuhta)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/10 "2012-11-09T17:16:19Z")
Hi guys, Just FYI I wanted to mention that Ralph was absolutely right: on Natural Version 8.2.2.3 (mainframe) blank is NOT (N whatever); apparently, you just need to upgrade your mainframe environment 🙂 Best regards. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/techcommunity/original/3X/c/d/cd19967bb605d28a72d77eb83a1cae22f3df2eb8.svg) [@system](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://techcommunity.softwareag.com/t/field-character-into-field-numeric/101706/11 "2021-04-02T15:02:33Z")