The i18n Cookbook - recipies for a global society

Problem:

You want to format and parse integer values.

Solution:

The Java NumberFormat class makes formatting and parsing a number is localized manner easy and efficient.  Simple specify the locale when retrieving the NumberFormat instance.

To format and parse a number in Hindi:

 Problem:

You want to format an ordinal number like "1st" or "2nd".

Solution:

Java programmers can handle ordinal number formatting by leveraging ICU4J's RuleBasedNumberFormat class.  

An ordinal number is a number like "1st" "2nd" etc.

To format an ordinal number:

//Get a RuleBasedNumberFormat appropriate for English ordinal format

Problem:

You want to convert a spelled out number to a Number.

Solution:

Parsing a formatted number in Java takes a new twist when the number is fully spelled out.   This can be easily accomplished thanks to the ICU4J library from IBM.  

To parse a spelled out number:

//Get a RuleBasedNumberFormat appropriate for French spellout

RuleBasedNumberFormat rbnf = new RuleBasedNumberFormat(ULocale.ENGLISH,RuleBasedNumberFormat.SPELLOUT);

Problem:

You want to spell out a localized number like "thirty-six."

Solution:

ICU4J provides some number formatting capabilities that core Java does not.  One of those features is the ability to spell out a numeric value.