Keith Devens .com - Weblog: How to "correctly" format currency in C#

Monday, June 4, 2007

How to "correctly" format currency in C#

For some reason C#, by default, formats negative currency as "($12,345,678.90)" instead of "-$12,345...". Here's code that lets you change that (wordwrapped for her pleasure):

// set currency format

string curCulture =

    System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.ToString();

System.Globalization.NumberFormatInfo currencyFormat =

    new System.Globalization.CultureInfo(curCulture).NumberFormat;

currencyFormat.CurrencyNegativePattern = 1;



number.ToString("c", currencyFormat);

// or string.Format(currencyFormat, "{0:c}", number);

C# is retarded.

Permalink | 5 Comments | Tags: C# | id 8225

13:46 (utc-5)
edited: 14:05 (utc-5)

Comments

Um ... that's more like the libraries being retarded, rather that C# being retarded. But then, with them money issues, one will almost always be dealing with a different library for a different day.
If C# is retarded, it is because she inherited bad genes.

Nathaniel wrote:

In the financial world, negative currency amounts are typically formatted that way, so that would be the reason for the parens, and isn't necessarily retarded. I don't know how much C# looks at the localization settings (Regional and Language Settings in the Windows control panel), but it's possible that its default behavior would change based on them.

∴ Nathaniel | 4-Jun-2007 3:13pm est | #10124

In the financial world, negative currency amounts are typically formatted that way, so that would be the reason for the parens, and isn't necessarily retarded.

The reason I say C# is retarded here is not because the default is parens -- I figured using parens is standard enough for some group important enough for Microsoft to default to that -- but because it's so complicated to change to a different format.

I don't know how much C# looks at the localization settings (Regional and Language Settings in the Windows control panel), but it's possible that its default behavior would change based on them.

Yes, it does, or at least it's supposed to. My regional settings had negative currency displayed with a negative sign, yet it doesn't respect that. So, I dunno.

Almutalibi wrote:

That was very good.....I searched alot to find a solution for this problem...

Thanks alot

∴ Almutalibi | 16-Jan-2008 4:14pm est | #10495

R wrote:

Thanks, I was looking for this. But as for it being retarded, it's a sign of the times. If you want a globalized language, that's what you gotta do. Were you expecting if(AmericaFYah), UseNegativeSign = 1? Sure negative signs are fairly standard throughout the world, but you could easily extend that to some other notation that someone else would find odd. Maybe periods instead of commas, for instance. Soon there'd be who knows how many flags.

∴ R | 28-Mar-2008 11:48am est | #10596

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