Numeric value formats are considered here separately from monetary amount formats, which may use different conventions.
Negative Numbers
Negative number representation does not have a universal form. Some countries use a leading hyphen to denote negative non-monetary numbers, some place the hyphen after the number, and some use another symbol altogether.
Example: The following list shows several ways to portray the number negative ten:
- ¯10
- -10
- 10-
- (10)
- [10]
- <10>
Decimal and Thousands Separators
Different regions of the world use different characters for the decimal and thousands separators. The term decimal separator is a misnomer, because many countries do not use the dot symbol as the decimal separator. The more correct term is the radix character.
Example: The following list shows some of the ways to present numeric values:
- 1,234.56 .123
- 1 234,56 0,123
- 1.234,56
Guideline C6
Allow the user to select the numeric value format.
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Example: The following Java program uses the NumberFormat class to present a given number in a culturally correct format:
import java.text.*;
import java.util.*;
public class GuidelineC6 extends Gudieline {
private static final String RESOURCE = "GuidelineC6";
private double number = 1234567.891;
public String getItRight() {
ResourceBundle bundle = ResourceBundle.getBundle
(RESOURCE, Sample.locale);
NumberFormat nf =
NumberFormat.getInstance(Sample.locale);
/* replace Sample.locale with Locale.US
to explicitly specify the English Locale
or with Locale.GERMANY
to explicitly specify the German Local
*/
return nf.format(number);
}
public String getResource() {
return RESOURCE;
}
}
Depending on the user's preference, the following results would be achieved:
| User's Preference |
Result |
| USA |
-1,234,567.891000 |
| Germany |
-1.234.567,891000 |
| France |
-1 234 567,891000 |
| 
