[gradsusr] Convert string to numeric?

[Matt Bunkers - NWS Rapid City]

Hi Jeff,

I think you helped me narrow it down.  Here is a snippet of my code:

say '  BUFawips = ' BUFawips
rc = valnum(BUFawips)
say '  rc = ' rc

'set lat 45.6043'
'set lon -103.5469'
'd totalQPE/25.4'
line1=sublin(result,1)
BUFqpe=subwrd(line1,4)
say '  BUFqpe = ' BUFqpe
rc = valnum(BUFqpe)
say '  rc = ' rc

'define BUFratio='BUFawips'/'BUFqpe''
say '  BUFratio = ' BUFratio
rc = valnum(BUFratio)
say '  rc = ' rc

and here is the output:

  BUFawips = 2.23
  rc = 2
  BUFqpe = 4.96543
  rc = 2
  BUFratio = BUFratio
  rc = 0

So it looks like my last part is where I'm failing.  Any thoughts on what
I'm doing wrong with my "define" statement?

Thanks,

-- Matt

On Sat, Aug 5, 2017 at 3:01 PM, Jeff Duda <jeffduda319 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Matt,
> Is it possible you are getting non-numeric characters stored in the
> variable? You say Grads prints 2.19, but are there any spaces or hidden
> characters that could be mixed in there? One way to check what's going on
> is to run valnum(*var*). It should return a value of 2 for your
> variables. If it returns 0 then it thinks *var* is a string. Once you
> know that it might help you troubleshoot further. For example, try say
> "_"var"_" to bracket the variable with underscores. That will tell you
> pretty quickly if and how many spaces are also located in the variable.
> That's my guess as to what's going on.
>
> Jeff Duda
>
> On Sat, Aug 5, 2017 at 3:53 PM, Matt Bunkers - NWS Rapid City <
> matthew.bunkers at noaa.gov> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a text file with numbers that I'm reading into GrADS and then I
>> want to perform calculations with them.  However, the numbers I'm reading
>> won't work and I get an error that says I have non-numeric args to a
>> numeric operations, even though when I print my variable it shows 2.19.
>>
>> I've tried both of these options:
>>
>> 'define BUFratio='BUFawips'/'BUFqpe''
>> BUFratio='BUFawips'/'BUFqpe'
>>
>> Is there a command I can use to convert my "2.19" string to a number that
>> can be used in calculations?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> -- Matt
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Jeff Duda
> Post-doctoral research fellow
> University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology
>
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>
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