Article
11/18/2011

Decimal.ToString Method

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Converts the numeric value of this instance to its equivalent string representation.

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
<SecuritySafeCriticalAttribute> _
Public Overrides Function ToString As String

[SecuritySafeCriticalAttribute]
public override string ToString()

Return Value

Type: System.String
A string that represents the value of this instance.

Remarks

The return value is formatted with the general numeric format specifier ("G"), and the NumberFormatInfo object for the current culture. To define the formatting of the decimal value's string representation, call the Decimal.ToString(String) method. To define the culture whose formatting is used in the decimal value's string representation, call the Decimal.ToString(IFormatProvider) method. To define both the format specifiers and culture used in creating the string representation of a decimal value, call the Decimal.ToString(String, IFormatProvider) method.

Note:
Because the Decimal data type is not supported on the Macintosh OS X operating system, the string representation of a Decimal value may be different from the string representations of the other .NET Framework numeric types that are supported by OS X.

The .NET Framework provides extensive formatting support, which is described in greater detail in the following formatting topics:

For more information about numeric format specifiers, see Standard Numeric Format Strings and Custom Numeric Format Strings.
For more information about formatting, see Formatting Types.

Examples

The following example displays a Decimal value using the default ToString() method. It also displays the string representations of the Decimal value that result from using a number of standard format specifiers.

Dim value As Decimal = -16325.62D
' Display value using default ToString method.
outputBlock.Text &= value.ToString() & vbCrLf                     ' Displays -16325.62
' Display value using some standard format specifiers.
outputBlock.Text &= value.ToString("G") & vbCrLf                  ' Displays -16325.62
outputBlock.Text &= String.Format(value.ToString("C")) & vbCrLf   ' Displays ($16,325.62)
outputBlock.Text &= value.ToString("F") & vbCrLf                  ' Displays -16325.62

decimal value = -16325.62m;
// Display value using default ToString method.
outputBlock.Text += value.ToString() + "\n";            // Displays -16325.62
// Display value using some standard format specifiers.
outputBlock.Text += value.ToString("G") + "\n";         // Displays -16325.62
outputBlock.Text += value.ToString("C") + "\n";         // Displays ($16,325.62)
outputBlock.Text += value.ToString("F") + "\n";         // Displays -16325.62

The following example displays the amount of money in an account.

Class PiggyBank

   Public Sub AddPenny()
      MyFortune = [Decimal].Add(MyFortune, 0.01D)
   End Sub

   Public Overrides Function ToString() As String
      Return MyFortune.ToString("C") + " in piggy bank"
   End Function

   Protected MyFortune As Decimal
End Class

class PiggyBank
{
   public void AddPenny()
   {
      MyFortune = Decimal.Add(MyFortune, .01m);
   }

   public override string ToString()
   {
      return MyFortune.ToString("C") + " in piggy bank";
   }

   protected decimal MyFortune;
}

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.

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