4.6. Formatting Numbers for Display Without a Mask

4.6.1. Problem

You want to format a number for display without using a mask.

4.6.2. Solution

Create a NumberFormat object with no mask setting, then call the format(  ) method.

4.6.3. Discussion

Recipe 4.4 discusses complex ways to format numbers as strings, including using masks and applying leading and trailing zeros and spaces. Sometimes, however, you just want to format a number without those complexities. The NumberFormat class provides that simplicity as well. If no mask is applied to a NumberFormat object, then the format(  ) method applies basic, localized formatting to a number, as shown in the following example:

var styler:NumberFormat = new NumberFormat(  );

trace(styler.format(12.3));
trace(styler.format(123.4));
trace(styler.format(1234.5));
trace(styler.format(12345.6));

Notice that a mask wasn’t applied to the NumberFormat object at any point. Assuming U.S.-style formatting, the preceding code outputs the following:

12.3
123.4
1,234.5
12,345.6

As with the other use of the format(  ) method (discussed in Recipe 4.4), this usage attempts to use automatic localization detection. However, the same issues may be applicable. You may prefer to override the automatic localization settings, and you can accomplish that by using the same techniques discussed in Recipe 4.4, as illustrated with the following example:

var styler:NumberFormat = new NumberFormat(  );

Locale.slanguage = "fr";
trace(styler.format(1234, new Locale("en")));
trace(styler.format(12345, {group: ":", decimal: "|"}));
trace(styler.format(123456));

The output from the preceding code is as follows:

1,234
12:345
123.456

4.6.4. See Also

Recipes 4.3 and 4.4 can be used to ensure a certain number of digits are displayed past the decimal point. Then aligning numbers is simply a matter of setting the text field’s format to right justification using the TextFormat .align property. Also refer to Recipe 4.6.