From: Robert Klemme <shortcutter@...>
Date: 2010-10-19T06:15:18+09:00
Subject: Re: data type for a string value

On 10/18/2010 05:00 AM, Jack Su wrote:
> Xavier Noria wrote in post #955025:

>> Are the conventions on number formatting known
>> beforehand?
>
> No, and Yes. there are a set of them, such as '1,234' and '2010-09-09'
> and '09/09/2010'. That is the point. a human can see it right away, but
> a computer will need to need to figure this out.

The usual solution to this is to expect a number of types (possibly only 
one), parse them and deal with them as needed.  Even if there would be a 
magical mechanism which would determine arbitrary types you would still 
need code to process each type properly.

What kind of problem are you really trying to solve?

Kind regards

	robert