Search code examples
javascriptparsingnumber-formatting

JavaScript can't convert Hindi/Arabic numbers to real numeric variables

I'm trying to use a DOM coming from an external source, and in it there are some numeric values in Hindi/Arabic transcription, like "۱۶۶۰", and when I want to convert it into numeric value I get NaN.

What's wrong here?

A small code snippet to be tried:

alert(Number("۱۶۶۰") + ' - ' + Number("1660"));
Solution

  • Well, the Number function does expect the digits 0 to 9 and does not handle arabic ones.

    You will need to take care of that yourself:

    function parseArabic(str) {
  return Number(str
    .replace(/[٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩]/g, d => d.charCodeAt(0) - 1632) // convert Arabic digits
    .replace(/[۰۱۲۳۴۵۶۷۸۹]/g, d => d.charCodeAt(0) - 1776) // convert Persian digits
  );
}
// usage example:
console.log( parseArabic("۱۶۶۰") )